Paleontology is a branch of paleobiology that studies the footprints left by animals in sedimentary rocks during their lifetime. Although footprints are not fossilized remains, they can sometimes provide information about the animals' living conditions that cannot be revealed by physical fossils. For example, people can infer the animals' height, weight, running speed, movement patterns, and ecological environment from footprints, making paleontological research of great significance. For instance, in the past, people believed that giant herbivorous dinosaurs mostly lived in water and relied on water buoyancy to support their massive bodies. However, the large number of giant herbivorous dinosaur footprints on land proved that they could fully support their bodies with their limbs and walk on land. Similarly, people once thought that dinosaurs preferred solitary living, but footprints revealed that dinosaurs, especially herbivorous ones, mostly lived in groups. Moreover, it was difficult to infer the walking speed of dinosaurs in the past, but footprints could accurately determine the stride length and running speed of dinosaurs.
Scholars studying paleoecology and paleontology, especially those studying marine invertebrates, use fossilized footprints such as trilobites and worm tubes to study the location, shape, slope, water depth, current direction, and sediment saturation of ancient coastlines. Meanwhile, scholars studying terrestrial animals focus on using footprints themselves to reconstruct the living details of mammals, birds, and dinosaurs, as well as the relationships between animal groups. Some even use the binomial nomenclature system for biological classification to establish a taxonomic-level classification archive for well-preserved dinosaur footprints, allowing paleontology to occupy a place in the biological classification system.
According to statistics, there are far more dinosaur footprints than dinosaur fossils. Chinese scientists began studying dinosaur footprints in 1929, when dinosaur footprints of the Hesperonychus genus were discovered in Jurassic strata in Shenmu, Shaanxi Province. Subsequently, in 1940, more than 400 dinosaur footprints were discovered in Chaoyang, western Liaoning Province. After 1949, many dinosaur footprints were also found in various places. Notably, in 2001, within a 2-square-kilometer area of Yanhexi Gorge in Yongjing County, Gansu Province, a total of 10 dinosaur footprint fossil sites and thousands of footprints were discovered, with their large scale, high quantity, high diversity, and excellent preservation being unprecedented in Asia. Some of the large sauropod dinosaur footprints measured up to 112 cm in length and 76 cm in width for the front foot, and 150 cm in length and 142 cm in width for the hind foot, making them among the largest dinosaur footprints in the world. In 2010, more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints were discovered in a large fossil site in Zhucheng, Shandong Province, revealing that a group of large sauropod dinosaurs were migrating in groups, while another group of large theropod dinosaurs was chasing a large herd of small ornithischian dinosaurs. This may be the largest dinosaur hunting scene ever recorded in the world. 古生物学的一个分支，研究动物活动时在地层中留下的足迹。虽然足迹不是遗体化石，但有时可以提供实体化石无法体现的动物活动情况，甚至可以推断出动物的身高、体重、奔跑速度、活动方式和生态环境等，因此足迹学研究具有重要意义。例如，过去人们曾以为巨型植食性恐龙大多生活在水中，靠水的浮力托起它们庞大的身躯。但陆地上大量巨型植食性恐龙的足迹证明，它们完全可以用四肢支撑身体并在陆地上行走。又如，过去人们认为恐龙喜欢独来独往，但足迹却表明恐龙尤其是植食性恐龙多半过着群居生活。再如，以前人们很难推断恐龙的行走速度，但从足迹中可以准确判断恐龙步伐的跨度和奔跑速度。
研究古生态、古生物，尤其是研究海生古无脊椎动物的学者，根据海洋中三叶虫、虫管等产生的足迹，研究古海岸线的位置、形状、坡度、水深、水流方向和沉积物饱和度等。而研究陆生动物的学者则侧重利用足迹本身来还原哺乳动物、鸟类、恐龙等动物的生活细节以及动物类群之间的关系。有些人甚至利用生物命名的双名法，为保存较好的恐龙足迹建立科级分类档案，让足迹学在生物分类系统中占有一席之地。
据统计，各地恐龙的足迹要比恐龙化石多得多。中国科学家对恐龙足迹的研究始于1929年，当年在陕北神木侏罗纪地层中发现了禽龙类的足迹。此后，1940年在辽宁西部朝阳发现了多达400余个恐龙足迹。1949年以后，在多个地方陆续发现了许多恐龙足迹。特别是2001年，在甘肃永靖盐锅峡2平方千米范围内共发现10个恐龙足迹化石点，数千个足迹，其规模之大、数量之多、多样化程度之高，保存之完好，均为亚洲前所未见。其中一些大型蜥脚类恐龙的前脚足迹长达112厘米，宽76厘米，后脚足迹更达到长150厘米，宽142厘米，是世界上最大的恐龙足迹之一。 2010年，在山东诸城发现了一个大型化石点，内含3000多个恐龙足迹。足迹显示，一群大型蜥脚类恐龙正在进行群体迁徙，而另一群大型兽脚类恐龙正在追捕一大群小型鸟类恐龙。这可能是世界上最大规模的恐龙追捕场景了。