How accurate is the new AI system for identifying dinosaur footprints?

The artificial intelligence system can identify dinosaur species from footprints with approximately 90% accuracy, matching the performance of human experts.

What is the DinoTracker app and how does it work?

DinoTracker is a free app that uses AI to help users classify dinosaur footprints by analyzing their features and comparing them to similar known imprints.

What do the AI's findings suggest about bird-like dinosaur tracks?

The AI supports observations that some dinosaur footprints from the Triassic and early Jurassic periods were remarkably bird-like, suggesting a deeper ancestry for birds.

Home / Science / AI Cracks Dinosaur Footprint Mystery

AI Cracks Dinosaur Footprint Mystery

27 Jan

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Summary

AI system identifies dinosaurs from footprints with 90% accuracy.
DinoTracker app helps users classify ancient footprints.
AI supports theories of older, bird-like dinosaur ancestry.

An advanced artificial intelligence system has achieved approximately 90% accuracy in classifying dinosaur species based on fossilized footprints, a feat comparable to human expert identification. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Helmholtz-Zentrum developed this AI by feeding it 2,000 unlabelled footprint silhouettes. The system analyzes eight distinct features to determine similarities, overcoming challenges posed by varying substrate conditions that can alter a footprint's appearance.

The new technology has been integrated into a free application called DinoTracker. This app enables users to upload images of dinosaur footprints, compare them with the seven most similar imprints in the database, and understand how subtle variations in features impact classification. The AI's findings support existing paleontological observations, such as remarkably bird-like footprints from the Triassic and early Jurassic periods, predating the oldest known bird fossils by tens of millions of years.