Fingerprints that may have belonged to dinosaurs were discovered on a beach in Penarth in Wales, in 2020. Photographs were then sent to paleontologists at the Muséum d ‘Story natural London. Two of them went there to study them. And as reported CNN Sunday, they confirmed that it was indeed traces of prehistoric specimens.
A series of tracks on a public beach point to the presence of large, long-necked dinosaurs in Wales over 200 million years ago.
The Penarth footprints are believed to have been left by sauropodomorphs, a group which includes the iconic Diplodocus ???? https://t.co/i4ef9WM8jk— Natural History Museum (@NHM_London) December 31, 2021
Scientists receive many requests from people mistaking geological features for footprints. But there is no doubt: “The footprints we saw at Penarth were systematically spaced to suggest the walking of an animal. We also saw some displacement contours where the mud had been pushed up. These structures are characteristic of active movement through soft ground, ”explained Paul Barrett, one of the paleontologists in charge of the research.
Learn more about life during this time
More specifically, it would be the footprints of a dinosaur belonging to the sauropod family and dating from the Triassic period: between – 251 and – 200 million years ago. A bone of Camelotia, a very ancient sauropod, had already been discovered in Britain, in Somerset, in rocks dating from the same period.
A discovery that should allow paleontologists to learn more about these dinosaurs and their behavior. “Data on Triassic dinosaurs in this country is very limited, so anything we can find about this period broadens our field of knowledge about what was happening at that time,” said Paul Barrett. . As for the prints on the Beach, they will gradually disappear with the tides, the scientists said.