A new look at Colorado's Dinosaur Ridge reveals what may be the largest known dinosaur mating dance arena
Bob Yirka
news contributor
Lisa Lock
scientific editor
Robert Egan
associate editor
A team of paleontologists and researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has discovered what may be the largest known dinosaur mating dance arena ever found. For their , published in the journal Cretaceous Research, the group used drone imagery to gain a new perspective on Colorado's famous Dinosaur Ridge.
Dinosaur Ridge has been yielding dinosaur bones since the late 1800s. For this study, the research team got a new look at a part of the area at the base of the ridge that was once a tidal flat—one that was flooded periodically. Prior research had shown that there were a few dinosaur "lekking" spots, or leks, in the area.
Such spots, the researchers note, are similar to those still used by birds. They are places where males perform dances for females in hopes of winning a mate and in so doing tend to leave behind telltale footprints or scrape marks. To gain a better perspective, the researchers studied drone imagery of the area captured by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019 and again in 2024.
In studying the images, the researchers found evidence of multiple dinosaur lekking spots, suggesting the whole site was once a single large lekking spot. The images also allowed the researchers to get a better view of the spots themselves—people, including scientists, are banned from walking in the area, lest they destroy historical evidence.
In their study, the research team found evidence of two distinct types of marks—bowl-like and long and thin. Such differences could speak to various behaviors, such as display and nest building. They also noted that prior digging at some of the dancing spots had revealed marks in different strata, suggesting a given site was used by different dinosaurs at different times. Different marks, they noted, also showed different dancing styles, such as dragging a claw.
The team also compared the lekking spots with others that have been identified in other sites in Colorado and Alberta, Canada, and found them to look much the same, adding more evidence of Colorado Ridge as the site of the largest dinosaur lek found to date.
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More information: Rogers C.C. Buntin et al, A new theropod dinosaur lek in the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone (Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado, USA), Cretaceous Research (2025).
Journal information: Cretaceous Research
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