The new analysis was done by using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) – computing systems based on neural networks of the brain – to track the fossils of these prehistoric reptiles. The study was conducted by Dr. Anthony Romilio, a paleontologist at the University of Queensland, and his team of team from Australia, the U.K. and Germany. For decades, scientists thought the giant footprints left by the dinosaurs were from a carnivorous dinosaur. "Large dinosaur footprints were first discovered back in the 1970s at a track site called the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, and for many years they were believed to be left by a predatory dinosaur, like Australovenator, with legs nearly two meters long, said Dr. Romilio. The discovery, using artificial intelligence, leads researchers to believe that the dinosaur was actually a friendly plant-eating prehistoric reptile. Dr. Romilio mentioned the difficulty in tracing the footprints from millions of years ago to determine the truth of what kind of dinosaur it really was. "The mysterious tracks were thought to be left during the mid-Cretaceous Period, around 93 million years ago," he stated. But working out what dino species made the footprints exactly--especially from tens of millions of years ago--can be a pretty difficult and confusing business."

In an international collaboration, University of Queensland palaeontologist Dr Anthony Romilio used AI pattern recognition to re-analyse footprints from the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, south-west of Winton in Central Queensland. "Large dinosaur footprints were first discovered back in the 1970s at a track site called the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, and for many years they were believed to be left by a predatory dinosaur, like Australovenator, with legs nearly two metres long," said Dr Romilio. "The mysterious tracks were thought to be left during the mid-Cretaceous Period, around 93 million years ago. "But working out what dino species made the footprints exactly -- especially from tens of millions of years ago -- can be a pretty difficult and confusing business. "Particularly since these big tracks are surrounded by thousands of tiny dinosaur footprints, leading many to think that this predatory beast could have sparked a stampede of smaller dinosaurs. "So, to crack the case, we decided to employ an AI program called Deep Convolutional Neural Networks." It was trained with 1,500 dinosaur footprints, all of which were theropod or ornithopod in origin -- the groups of dinosaurs relevant to the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument prints. The results were clear: the tracks had been made by a herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur. Dr Jens Lallensack, lead author from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, said that the computer assistance was vital, as the team was originally at an impasse. "We were pretty stuck, so thank god for modern technology," Dr Lallensack said. "In our research team of three, one person was pro-meat-eater, one person was undecided, and one was pro-plant-eater.

Artificial intelligence has revealed that prehistoric footprints thought to be made by a vicious dinosaur predator were in fact from a timid herbivore. In an international collaboration, University of Queensland paleontologist Dr. Anthony Romilio used AI pattern recognition to re-analyze footprints from the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, south-west of Winton in Central Queensland. "Large dinosaur footprints were first discovered back in the 1970s at a track site called the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, and for many years they were believed to be left by a predatory dinosaur, like Australovenator, with legs nearly two meters long," said Dr. Romilio. "The mysterious tracks were thought to be left during the mid-Cretaceous Period, around 93 million years ago. "But working out what dino species made the footprints exactly--especially from tens of millions of years ago--can be a pretty difficult and confusing business.