AI-Powered DinoTracker App Identifies Dinosaurs from Fossilized Footprints with 90% Accuracy

According to the Economic Desk of Webangah News Agency, fossilized dinosaur footprints have long been enigmatic, but a new AI-powered application is unlocking their secrets. DinoTracker analyzes images of fossilized tracks and predicts which dinosaur species likely created them, matching human expert accuracy. The system has identified footprints strikingly similar to bird tracks, dating back over 200 million years—a discovery that could push back the origin of birds by tens of millions of years.

The app, developed through a collaboration between Helmholtz-Zentrum research center in Berlin and the University of Edinburgh, uses advanced algorithms to teach computers to recognize differences in dinosaur footprint shapes. Trained on nearly 2,000 real fossil tracks plus millions of simulated samples, the AI learned to identify eight key distinguishing characteristics including toe splay, heel position, and weight distribution patterns.

Researchers say this technology opens new opportunities for studying dinosaur behavior while allowing public participation in paleontological research through footprint analysis. The system has already provided fresh insights into mysterious 170-million-year-old tracks found on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, potentially linking them to some of the earliest known relatives of duck-billed dinosaurs.