06/10/2025
300ft high wall in Bolivia found with over 5000 dinosaur footprints, belonging to 10 different species, in over 462 discreet trails, dating to 65 million years ago.
This remarkable site, known as Cal Orcko, lies near the city of Sucre, Bolivia, and preserves one of the largest collections of dinosaur footprints ever discovered. The vertical wall, towering nearly 300 feet, was once a muddy lakeshore during the late Cretaceous period. Over time, layers of sediment hardened into limestone, recording the movements of ancient creatures. Geological uplift and quarrying later tilted these layers, revealing what looks like a wall but is actually the petrified floor of a prehistoric landscape turned on its side.
More than 5000 tracks stretch across the surface, belonging to at least ten species, including titanosaurs, ankylosaurs, and theropods. Among the most famous is a 347-foot trackway believed to have been made by a juvenile Tyrannosaurus-like predator nicknamed “Johnny Walker.” Each footprint is a frozen step in time, capturing a moment when dinosaurs crossed the muddy flats in herds, leaving behind a living record that would survive 65 million years of change.
Added fact: The wall is still slowly eroding, and conservationists race against time to preserve it; parts of it have been incorporated into a nearby museum called Parque Cretácico, where visitors can view the footprints up close.
