Archaeology: Were ancient artists in Brazil inspired by dinosaurs?
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Even though they roamed the Earth millions of years ago, many of us are still fascinated by dinosaurs.
Some of them were very tall, some of them had long necks, and some of them had hundreds of teeth!
And now it seems that interest may go back thousands of years.
New research suggests that their footprints could have inspired the drawings of ancient artists.
What have experts found?
A dinosaur footprint next to one of the carvings
Experts have been studying mysterious carvings, known as petroglyphs, that were found in Brazil.
The carvings are located very close to some ancient evidence of dino footprints.
The artwork could have been made anytime between 3,000 and 9,000 years ago, but the fossils date back to the Early Cretaceous Period. That was up to 145 million years ago!
Now in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers are suggesting that the drawings could have been made by humans inspired by those preserved footprints.
The study suggests that with so many carvings right next to the footprints, or nearby, it means the artists were aware of them. Experts also claim that that ancient humans in the area knew about fossils and considered them to be important, even if they didn't know what hey actually were.
The footprints belong to three types of dinosaurs:
Theropod - dinosaurs with three toes like the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Sauropod - dinosaurs with long tails and long necks like the Diplodocus.
Iguanodontian - Large plant eating creatures known as 'dinosaur cows'.
What did the artists draw with?
Diplodocus were among the sauropod dinosaurs
It's thought the ancient artists would have created the carvings using an instrument to scrape away at the rock.
They were careful not to touch the footprints which researchers says shows their "thoughtfulness".
Some of the carvings were created very closely to the fossils almost like they were copying their work right next to them!