After analyzing around 50 fossilized footprints that were left by a pair of carnivorous dinosaurs on a beach nearly 142 million years ago, researchers suggest that some dinosaurs may have been more social than thought.

These footprints were excavated from 2009-2011 in northern Germany, nearly 50 kilometers away from Hannover. The fossils have been subject to a variety of geological surveys, and were recently examined by biologists.

Pernille Veno Troelsen, a biologist from the University of Southern Denmark, was the first to thoroughly examine the fossils. Troelsen's research paper is yet to publish but she presented her findings last month at the annual meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists in Opole, Poland.

The footprints are evidence that these species of dinosaur may have interacted socially, she said. Some earlier conducted analysis showed that the dinosaurs were of the species Megalosauripus, and that one of the animals was larger than the other.

The bigger animal measured 5-1/4 feet at hip height, and walked at a pace of 6 miles per hour, whereas the smaller creature measured 3.6 feet at hip height and walked a speed just under 4 mph.

However, Troelsen admitted that it cannot be determined whether the tracks from the two animals were created at the same time. She noted that other fossilized remains of tracks from the area indicate it was a popular area for foot traffic.

"The two sets of tracks could turn out to have been laid many years apart, in which case it maybe reflects two animals randomly crossing each other's tracks", she said.