Scientists Launch AI App to Identify Dinosaurs From Footprints

Scientists have launched DinoTracker, an AI-powered app that identifies dinosaurs from fossilized footprints.
Researchers trained the system using 2,000 unlabeled footprint silhouettes to avoid inherited classification errors.
The AI groups prints by shared shape features such as toe spread, heel position, and ground contact.
It matches expert human classifications about 90% of the time.
The study was led by Prof Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh and Dr Gregor Hartmann from Helmholtz-Zentrum.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The system supports evidence that some ancient tracks appear birdlike, long before known bird fossils.
Researchers say the app will help scientists test ideas, not replace expert judgment.