Experts say the footprints found off the coast of Wales may have belonged to a dinosaur that lived there 200 million years ago.
Ancient researchers at the Museum of Natural History in London have suggested that pre-Triassic footprints may have been from a sauropod or a close relative of some species.
“At that time we know that the oldest living sauropods lived in England, and the bones of Camellia were found in the Somerset rocks of the same period,” said Dr. Susanna Midment, an archaeologist at the Museum. Research. , In a statement revealing the findings.
“We don’t know if the footprint is due to the species, but there are other clues that suggest something of the species,” he said.
Maidment and his associate professor Paul Barrett initially obtained images uploaded in 2020 from the Penarth Beach trail by an amateur archaeologist. At first, they were skeptical of the findings.
“We get a lot of inquiries from the public about things that can be taken, but many geographical indications can be confusing,” Midment said.
“However, from the photos, we thought there was a big chance that something like that might have a trail, and it’s worth a look.”
The pair worked with colleagues and discovered that Cindy Howells, an archaeologist at the National Museum of Wales, had previously studied the French team and a team from Cardiff University.
Midment and Barent arrived at the scene to explore the path and record the measurements.
“We believed that the footprints we saw in Benarth were constantly spaced out to suggest animal hiking. We also saw displacement rings pushed up by the mud. These structures are characteristic of active movement through the smooth terrain,” Barrett said in a museum announcement.
Findings can also reveal information about the behavioral traits of dinosaurs – for example how they walked and traveled in herds.
“These types of trails are not particularly common around the world, so we hope this is an interesting addition to our knowledge of Triassic life in the UK. The record of Triassic dinosaurs in this country is very small, so everything we can find from that time adds to our picture of what happened at that time.” Said Barrett.
The museum said the footprints would remain on the beach until eroded by the wave.
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