Dinosaur Trackways Building

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Preserving Prehistoric Texas

Texas Science & Natural History Museum has embarked on a multi-year project to conserve and rehouse some of the state’s most renowned fossilized footprints, made 113 million years ago by a sauropod and a theropod near what is now Glen Rose, Texas.

This project represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect one of Texas’s most iconic fossil discoveries. We’re not only preserving the past—we’re building something that will inspire future scientists, students and curious minds for decades to come.

Current 1940 WPA Dinosaur Trackways Building
Conservation work in progress on the trackways

A Legacy in Stone

In the 1930s, paleontologist Roland T. Bird identified the fossilized tracks in the limestone bed of Texas’s Paluxy River. In 1940, Bird supervised the removal of two large limestone slabs bearing the tracks—one of which was sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the other brought to UT’s Texas Memorial Museum through a project of the Work Projects Administration. The sauropod trackway that spans both slabs includes fore and hind footprint impressions that were scientifically described and named Brontopodus birdi in Bird’s honor. These tracks remain designated reference specimens for this type of dinosaur footprint.

Why Conservation is Urgent

A small, stone building next to Texas Memorial Museum (now known as Texas Science & Natural History Museum) has housed the Lone Star State’s excavated slab ever since. However, the building closed to the public in 2013, due to structural concerns and environmental conditions that put the historically and scientifically important trackways at risk of deterioration.

Based on recommendations provided in 2024 by a national conservation and restoration firm, the museum will protect the trackways from further damage by relocating the slabs to a controlled laboratory for conservation. Experts will then prepare the slabs with the dinosaur trackways for installation in a more protective, visitor-friendly environment.

In May of 2025, a UT Planning, Design and Construction team, coordinating with museum staff and project partners, began deconstructing the stone building and salvaging fossiliferous limestone blocks within it for use in a new Dinosaur Trackways Building. The museum plans to construct a new building to house the conserved trackways and, for the first time, allow visitors to walk around them for viewing.

This exhibit will expand the museum’s current STEM educational programming for preK-12 learners and all visitors. It will be a vital part of our work to share the stories of life in the natural world of Texas.

Dinosaur Trackways

WPA excavation crew at the Paluxy River site in 1940; photo courtesy American Museum of Natural History

Project Funding and Giving Opportunities

New investment in Texas Science & Natural History Museum from The University of Texas at Austin, the College of Natural Sciences and the State Legislature has enabled us to revitalize the museum. Now, with your help, we can further enhance the museum experience and preserve Texas’ natural history for generations to come.

Together, we are proud to advance this project that honors the past, safeguards a scientific treasure and opens a new chapter in public engagement with Texas’ prehistoric legacy.

Help Us Take Our Next Big Steps

We are seeking private philanthropic support to help fund the meticulous restoration of the tracks and new building construction. For more information, please contact:

Maggie Gilburg
Director of Development
SupportTMM@austin.utexas.edu

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