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Dinosaur Ridge, the world-renowned dinosaur track site just 30 minutes from Denver, provides a pathway straight to a local legacy. Since it opened in 1989, visitors have been able to follow in the footsteps dinosaurs left behind along what was once the muddy shore of an ancient seaway known as the “Dinosaur Freeway.” Now, they can also trace the unique impact left behind by local paleoichnologist and co-founder of Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, the late Dr. Martin Lockley.
Lockley had always had an interest in the natural sciences. The son of a Welsh ornithologist, Lockley pursued this interest through advanced degrees in geology and paleontology. In the 1980s, he moved to Colorado to teach geology at the University of Colorado Denver. It was here that his focus turned to an area of science that was unique for the time: paleoichnology, or the study of trace fossils. At the time, dinosaur bones were all the rage in the field of paleontology. Little attention was paid to the dinosaur tracks and traces fossilized right beside them in the bedrock across the world.
“He was instrumental in recognizing things other scientists weren’t paying attention to yet,” reflected Kristen Kidd, Marketing and Communications Director at Dinosaur Ridge. Lockley’s work on trace fossils quickly garnered international attention, leading him to become an expert in the field. He visited track sites across the world, mapping and analyzing tracks from South Korea to South America to Colorado.
In 1989, Lockley co-founded Friends of Dinosaur Ridge in the interest of protecting the dinosaur track site near Denver. Formerly known as the Nelson Hogback, Lockley coined the name “Dinosaur Ridge” for the site and set to work.
Read more about Dr. Lockley and his work at Dinosaur Ridge here.
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