A woman collecting shellfish was surprised to discover the largest dinosaur footprint ever found on the Yorkshire coast – probably to a ‘Jurassic giant’ megalosaurus.
Marie Woods, 29, was searching for her food on Saturday when she came across an enormous footprint, believed to be about 165 million years old.
Experts have now documented the find, saying it is the most important discovery in the area since 2006.
Marie, who is an archaeologist, said: ‘All I wanted to do was grab shellfish for my dinner, and eventually I stumbled upon this. I showed some paleontologists what I found, and none of them saw it. It’s really exciting. ”
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The paleontologist at the University of Manchester, Dr Dean Lomax, believes that the pressure was probably left by a ‘megalosaurus’. Such an animal would have had hips more than two meters high and a body length of up to nine meters. ‘In short,’ he said, ‘this is the largest teropod footprint ever found in Yorkshire made by a large dinosaur that eats meat.’
“We know this, because the shape and the triangular track, together with the impression of the claws, are absolutely spot on because it was made by a large teropod … a real Jurassic giant.”
After Marie contacted local experts, it was found that the fossil was photographed by local Rob Taylor last year. The image was even posted on Facebook. However, its significance has not been recognized so far.
Marie and Rob both have the rights to the footprint, and they hope it can now be displayed in public at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.
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It will undoubtedly provide a wonderful study and be a wonderful sight for the public to enjoy.
ROAR the exciting find for all to hear – share this story with friends …