Matching Dino Footprints on Both Sides of the Atlantic

A recent study conducted by researchers from Southern Methodist University and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro has revealed practically identical dinosaur footprints on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The tracks were found in the Sousa Basin in Brazil, South America, and the Koum Basin in Cameroon, Africa. They exhibited notable similarities in age, shape, and geological context, according to Louis L. Jacobs, a paleontologist at SMU and lead author of the study published by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, and Diana P. Vineyard, a research associate at SMU and coauthor of the study.

Jacobs and his team identified over 260 footprints in the Sousa and Koum Basins. The fossilized tracks were primarily from three-toed theropod dinosaurs. Despite the 3,700-mile distance separating the tracks, their similarities are striking.

In a press release from SMU, Jacobs stated, “We determined that in terms of age, these footprints were similar…In terms of their shapes, they are almost identical.”

“Dinosaur tracks are not rare,” said Jacobs. “But unlike the bones usually found, footprints are the proof of dinosaur behavior, how they walked, ran or otherwise, who they walked with, what environment they walked through, what direction they were going, and where they were when they were doing it.”

Evidences of a Young Earth

Fossilization of footprints can occur through compression by overlying sediments. The preservation of these footprints suggests rapid sedimentation, likely resulting from the Global Flood. Finding matching footprints on both sides of the Atlantic is strong evidence supporting the Genesis account of the Earth’s creation in chapter one and the Global Flood described in chapter seven.

The Pre-Flood Earth

The lead author of the study remarked, “One beauty of this Earth is that any of us can see that Africa and South America used to fit together like puzzle pieces …The two continents were continuous along that narrow stretch, so that animals on either side of that connection could potentially move across it.”

The separation point of the pre-Flood landmass is evident from satellite images and ocean floor mapping, which show how the continents broke apart, particularly at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent plate boundary visible as a line running north to south down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The ridge, which separates the African and South American plates, currently spreading at about one inch per year, would have spread much faster during the cataclysmic Flood.

The Bible as Our Starting Point for Science

Genesis 1:9-10 describes God gathering the waters on day three of creation week to form seas, at which time the dry land appeared. We do not know how much of the Earth was land versus water or how it compared to the ratio of water to land we have today. But we do know after forty days and forty nights of rain, not even the highest hills could be seen (Genesis 7:19-20).

As the fountains of the great deep burst forth (Genesis 7:11), the land mass we know today as South America and Africa would have split, and the parts would have pushed apart quickly. Sediment was deposited over the surface of the entire Earth as the flood waters gushed over the highest mountains, fossilizing millions of living creatures and their footprints. When the fountains of the great deep finished spewing their contents and the windows of heaven were stopped, 100% of the Earth was covered with water. When the flood waters subsided, about 75% of the Earth remained covered in water, as we see it today.

Catastrophes Past and Future

The Global Flood, as described in the Bible, represents a catastrophic event that reshaped the face of the Earth and changed the course of history for mankind and every living thing. The cataclysm underscores the severity of sin, the reality of God’s judgment, and an offer of divine mercy. The eight people who entered the door of the Ark were saved and escaped what would seem to them to be the end of the world.

Another world-wide, catastrophic judgement is coming to this planet. God has already told us He is going to judge the world again, not with water this time, but with fire. It will restore God’s original design for the heavens and the Earth, where God will once again dwell with mankind in His kingdom.

Jesus made this comparison in Luke 17:26, 30: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.” Mercifully, God has already provided a way to escape the coming judgment. He sent His Son Jesus to the Earth, who died for our sins, was raised, and is now alive forevermore. Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,…” (John 10:9). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).