‘Leave nothing but footprints’ is a common saying on British beaches – and that’s exactly what a giant dinosaur did 125 million years ago on the Isle of Wight.
Engineers have discovered the telltale signs of what appear to be the footprints of a Mantellisaurus – a seven-metre-long herbivorous dinosaur – on the Yaverland coast as they worked to improve the sea wall.
The Cretaceous creature moved alternately on four and two legs, with three toes on each foot.
The fossils were hidden between the beach cafe, the car park and the bus stop – a startling reminder of the giants who walked the planet long before humans drank tea.
“The Isle of Wight is the richest dinosaur site in Europe, but this is still a wonderful find,” says Dr. Martin Munt, curator of the Dinosaur Isle Museum.
“We located 35 different species, and the area was also once rich in plants, crocodiles, pterosaurs, amphibians, fish and invertebrates such as insects and freshwater mussels.”
“We can’t be completely sure it’s a print, but the three-toed feet make it likely that a Mantellisaurus could have been here and not just in other parts of the south coast where they are more common – or something like that,” they say. we thought until now.’
If the prints are from a Mantellisaurus, it will be a homecoming of sorts after the species was first discovered in 1914, just over 10 miles away, on the other side of the island, near Atherfield.
However, the bones were misidentified as Iguanodon, and it was not until 2007 that Mantellisaurus was classified as a separate species.
The maritime defense work is carried out by JBA Consulting on behalf of the Environment Agency (EA).
“This represents an extremely important and significant discovery for the project as the discovery of the new footprints makes it clear that the land on which the dinosaurs walked is likely to extend the entire length of Yaverland Beach,” said Stuart Noon, head of JBA. Department of Heritage.
Nick Gray, flood management manager at EA, said: “Dinosaurs exist where our teamwork brings old and new together – tackling the modern challenges of climate change on a time scale we can only imagine,” and coastal risks to the Solent and the South. Downs area.
“We’ve all read the stories and seen the movies, but that only gives us an idea of what life was like.”
“Reducing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion to islanders, properties and infrastructure is a priority for the Environment Agency, but we will keep an eye on further dinosaur discoveries.”
The fossilized footprints are far from the only dinosaur find on the island this year alone.
Last month, a new species of chicken-sized herbivore called Vectidromeus insularis was discovered by an amateur collector, while in June the armored Vectipelta barretti, a type of lumbering ankylosaur, was unveiled by the Natural History Museum.
Source: Metro
Source: Metro
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