Four-year-old girl stumbles on dinosaur footprint while walking dog at the beach
A DINOSAUR footprint found by a fouryear-old girl on a Welsh beach has been hailed as the “finest in a decade”.
Lily Wilder was walking her dog with her family at Bendricks Beach in Barry when she spotted the print fossilised in the rocks.
Her mother said that she posted a photo to Facebook and received a “huge response” from fossil hunters.
Mrs Wilder contacted National Museum Wales, who advised her to take the post down to avoid a “stampede” on the protected land.
The 4in (110mm) fossil has been legally removed, after permission from the landowners and Natural Resources Wales, and is in safe keeping.
The 220 million-year-old fossil will be taken to National Museum Wales in Cardiff where Palaeontology Curator Cindy Howells, who arranged for its removal, said: “This is a spectacular discovery. It’s the best-preserved trace fossil that’s ever been found in South Wales – normally they’re hollow or less well defined, but on this one you can see the claws and the points at the end.
“This discovery is unique and worth protecting – we will be studying the footprint and it will teach us a lot more about dinosaur feet and their bone and muscle structure.”
The footprint is believed to be that of a meat-eating theropod from the early days when dinosaurs were first starting to evolve, around 10 million years after dinosaurs first emerged.
Karl-James Langford, of Archaeology Cymru, said: “It’s so perfect and absolutely pristine, it’s a wonderful piece.”
“It’s internationally important and that is why the museum took it straight away. This is how important it is. It’s the best dinosaur footprint found in the UK in the past 10 years.”
Mrs Wilder, said: “Lily likes dinosaurs, especially her pterodactyl toy, and was so excited about her discovery.”
Lily, who now plans to get more dinosaur toys, will forever be named as the fossil’s finder and will be invited into the museum once coronavirus restrictions allow it to reopen.