Maryland’s signature dinosaur, an armored browser known as a
nodosaur, made the track with its back left foot 112 million
years ago, Stanford said as he led an entourage of NASA
officials to the print Friday morning. Sticking out of the grass
in plain view, the elephant-foot-size impression — nearly 14
inches wide — elicited gasps. “Unbelievable!” said a NASA
photographer. Someone else said, “Oh, my!” NASA officials said
they accept the discovery for now as an authentic dinosaur
footprint. They are moving to call in experts to confirm the
find and search the area for other dinosaur calling cards. Last
week, Stanford showed the print to noted Johns Hopkins
University expert David Weishampel, author of the book
“Dinosaurs of the East Coast” and a consultant on the 1993 film
“Jurassic Park.” Weishampel said that the track, pressed into
the bedrock undergirding the campus, is real. “Ray showed it to
me, and I was overwhelmed,” Weishampel said in a phone
interview. “As a scientist, I’m skeptical of things like thi