Engineers Working To Prevent Flooding On A South Coast Beach In England Unexpectedly Uncovered A Set Of Well-Preserved Dinosaur Footprints Dating Back 125 Million Years Ago
Fans of Jurassic Park and paleontology, in general, will be interested to know that more evidence of the prehistoric giants that roamed the earth long before our time has been discovered.
In the United Kingdom, engineers from the Environment Agency, who were working to prevent flooding on a beach off the south coast of England, unearthed a set of dinosaur footprints.
The engineers who uncovered the footprints were at the beach making plans for improved sea defenses to protect residents from floods for more than 600 properties in Shanklin and Yaverland.
“Dinosaurs existing right where our team is working brings old and new together—the modern challenges of combatting climate change with a period of time we can only imagine,” said Nick Gray, the flood and coastal risk manager at the agency. “We’ve all read the stories and seen the films, but this gives us a hint of what life was like,” he added.
The well-preserved prints were found at a seaside resort at Yaverland on the Isle of Wight. They date back to 125 million years ago.
Experts believe the fossils are from a mantellisaurus, a type of dinosaur that had three toes on each foot, measured up to 23 feet long, and walked on its hind legs.
“We cannot be totally sure about a print’s identity, but the three-toed feet makes it likely a mantellisaurus was here, not just in other parts of the south coast where they were common…” said the curator of the Dinosaur Isle Museum, Dr. Martin Munt.
He also said that the Isle of Wight is “the richest dinosaur location in Europe.” According to the museum curator, what is now known as the Isle of Wight used to be the “perfect habitat for dinosaurs.” The area was full of plants, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates.
In recent years, several dinosaur fossils had been found on the seafront, so a team of experts from the museum had been present at the site even before the three-toed prints were discovered.
Matthew – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Back in 1917, a mantellisaurus skeleton, which is one of the most complete dinosaur fossils in the U.K., was found on the Isle of Wight. It is currently displayed in London’s Natural History Museum.
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