About 100 million years ago, in what is now Colorado, a bunch of horny dinosaurs gathered in a dusty open space and tried to out-dance each other to get laid. That’s the takeaway from a new study published in Cretaceous Research, which suggests some small theropods—cousins of T. rex—turned prehistoric sand pits into full-on mating arenas.Researchers at Dinosaur Ridge found 25 scrapes carved into sandstone that resemble coordinated display moves, not the usual signs of foraging or hunting. They were putting on a show. “We can tell they had two moves so far,” he told Live Science. “One walking backwards and one moving side to side.”If that sounds suspiciously like a Jurassic moonwalk, you’re not wrong. Buntin said some of the creatures even spun in place after shuffling backward, erasing earlier marks as they doubled down on their routine. “Kind of like the moonwalk with a little spin,” he explained.T. Rex Relatives May Have “Moonwalked” in Mating RitualsUsing drone photography, the team uncovered the scrapes on two surfaces at the site, essentially fossilized dance floors. And these weren’t solo acts. The number and placement of the scrapes suggest multiple dinosaurs showed up to strut their stuff, probably over several breeding seasons.This was show-off territory. Scrapes in every direction, spins in the dirt, and dinosaurs trying really hard to be seen.These dino raves probably belonged to a species the size of an ostrich—small by dinosaur standards, but clearly compensating with footwork. The behavior mirrors lekking, something modern birds still do. Like sage-grouse, which puff up and wobble dramatically in the hopes of scoring a mate, these theropods may have followed a similar, if slightly dustier, playbook.“It was very exciting to see the new scrapes in the imagery,” Buntin said. “It was quite surreal.”This isn’t the first time Dinosaur Ridge has hinted at complex social behavior, but it might be the first time we’ve had such strong evidence of dinosaur dance culture. What it looked like is up for interpretation. Maybe it was majestic. Maybe it was awkward. Maybe one of them tripped. Either way, it’s comforting to know that even millions of years ago, someone was out there doing weird stuff to get noticed.The post T. Rex Relatives May Have ‘Moonwalked’ to Attract Mates appeared first on VICE.