AKURAT.CO, Dinosaur footprints have been found on the coast of South Wales, United Kingdom. Researchers believe the trail was made by the earliest relatives of dinosaurs that lived more than 200 years ago.
Paleontologists at the Natural History Museum in London say the footprints, which date back to the Triassic period, are thought to belong to a very early sauropod or sauropod relative.
“We know early sauropods lived in Great Britain at the time, because bones of Camelotia, a very early sauropod, have been found at Somerset in rocks dating from the same period.
“We don’t know if this species was a tracer, but there are other clues to suggest that such a creature could have made these trails,” said Dr. Susannah Maidment, a paleontologist at the museum involved in the research.
Maidment and her colleague, professor Paul Barrett, were initially sent pictures showing footprints on the beach in Penarth. It said this image was originally sent by an amateur paleontologist in 2020. As reported by Sky News, the paleontologist named Kerry Rees, who later reported the find to the Natural History Museum.
The Maidment and others reported that they were initially skeptical of Rees’ findings. Now, however, after investigating, Maidment and Barrett believe that the footprints belonged to an early dinosaur relative.
“We get a lot of questions from members of the public for things that might be dinosaur footprints. However, sometimes the discovery of geological features can be mistaken for such traces. However, from the photos, we think they could be footprints. and worth observing,” said the Maidment, as quoted by CNN.
After finding the trail, Maidment and Barrett collaborated with his colleagues. Later, they discovered that the site had previously been examined by Cindy Howells, a paleontologist from the National Museum of Wales, a French team, and a group from Cardiff University.
Maidment and Barrett then went to the location to investigate the traces and began taking measurements.
“We believe the impression we saw at Penarth consistently suggested that it was a walking animal. We also saw displacement of the trail’s fringes where mud had been pushed up. This structure is characteristic of active movement on soft soil,” said Barrett. in the museum’s announcement of the discovery of the dinosaur tracks.
Their findings may also reveal information about the behavioral qualities of dinosaurs, such as how they walked, and traveled in herds.
“This type of trail is not very common around the world, so we believe it is an interesting addition to our knowledge of the life of dinosaurs in the Triassic period in England. Records of Triassic dinosaurs in this country are quite scanty, so whatever we can find from the period it adds to our picture of what happened at that time,” Barrett said.
According to the museum, the footprints will remain on the beach until they are lost by the tide. []
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