Scientists launched an AI-powered app that identifies dinosaurs from fossil footprints with about 90% agreement with human experts.
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Helmholtz-Zentrum developed the system using unlabelled footprint data.
The team trained the AI on 2,000 footprint silhouettes and let it group shapes by shared features.
The system identified eight key features, including toe spread, heel position, and ground contact.
Researchers turned the tool into a free app called DinoTracker.
Users can upload footprints and compare them with similar fossil tracks.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The AI supports earlier claims that some Triassic footprints look strikingly birdlike.
However, scientists caution that birdlike tracks may belong to non-bird dinosaurs moving through soft ground.
AI DinoTracker App Identifies Dinosaurs From Ancient Footprints
Andrew Rogers
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