Footprints of dinosaurs discovered
London: These dinosaurs would have been the last to roam in Kent before becoming extinct
Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaurs, the very last dinosaurs to walk on the UK soil 110 million years ago, have been found in Kent, a new report has announced.
The discovery of dinosaur footprints by a curator from Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and a scientist from the University of Portsmouth is the last record of dinosaurs in Britain.
The footprints were discovered in the cliffs and on the foreshore in Folkestone, Kent, where stormy conditions affect the cliff and coastal waters and are constantly revealing new fossils. Professor of Palaeobiology, David Martill, said: “This is the first time dinosaur footprints have been found in strata known as the ‘Folkestone Formation’ and it’s quite an extraordinary discovery because these dinosaurs would have been the last to roam in this country before becoming extinct.” “They were walking around close to where the White Cliffs of Dover are now — next time you’re on a ferry and you see those magnificent cliffs just imagine that!” The footprint fossils formed by sediment filling the impression left behind when a dinosaur’s foot pushes into the ground, which then preserves it.
The footprints are from a variety of dinosaurs, which shows there was a relatively high diversity of dinosaurs in southern England at the end of the Early Cretaceous period, 110 million years ago.
They are thought to be from ankylosaurs, rugged-looking armoured dinosaurs which were like living tanks; theropods, three-toed flesh-eating dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex; and ornithopods, plant-eating ‘bird-hipped’ dinosaurs so-called because of their pelvic structure being a little bit similar to birds.
