This paper reports the use of FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to model dinosaur tracks. Satisfactory reproductions of sauropod
ichnites were simulated using 3D numerical models of the elasto-plastic behaviour of soils. Though the modelling
was done of ichnites in situ at the Miraflores I tracksite (Soria, Spain), the methodology could be applied to other tracksites
to improve their ichnological interpretation and better understand how the type and state of the trodden sediment
at the moment the track is created is a fundamental determinant of the morphology of the ichnite. The results obtained
explain why the initial and commonly adopted hypothesis—that soft sediments become progressively more rigid and
resistant at depth—is not appropriate at this tracksite. We explain why it is essential to consider a more rigid superficial
layer (caused by desiccation) overlying a softer layer that is extruded to form a displacement rim. Adult sauropods left
trackways behind them. These tracks could be filled up with water due to phreatic level was close to the ground surface.
The simulation provides us with a means to explain the differences between similar tracks (of different depths; with or
without displacement rims) in the various stratigraphic layers of the tracksite and to explain why temporary and variable
conditions of humidity lead to these differences in the tracks. The simulations also demonstrate that track depth alone
is insufficient to differentiate true tracks from undertracks and that other discrimination criteria need to be taken into
account. The scarcity of baby sauropod tracks is explained because they are shallow and easily eroded.
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