Some dinosaurs were dancing 100 million years ago. A scientist explains why a site in Colorado was so popular

Scientists say they’ve identified a sort of massive dance floor that some dinosaurs used as part of their mating rituals millions of years ago. The area is at Dinosaur Ridge, an active paleontology site in Morrison that’s also open to the public. Researchers there found dozens of places where a dinosaur species called Magnoavipes would scrape patterns into the rock – a telltale sign of the creatures’ unique mating rituals.  So, what does this discovery tell us about how dinosaurs lived 100 million years ago in what’s now Colorado? And what does it reveal  about dinosaurs’ similarities to modern species like birds?  To better understand those dinosaur dance parties, Erin O’Toole talked with Amy Atwater, the Director of Paleontology at Dinosaur Ridge.