Southern Wales used to be home to long-necked “sauropodomorph”, dinosaurs, according to a 200-million year-old study.
The tracks — found on a beach near Penarth by walker Kerry Rees in 2020 — were examined by a team of experts from Liverpool John Moores University.
Researchers believe the area was used by sauropodomorphs to meet due to the number and diversity of their fossilised footprints.
The team also created 3D models of the trace fossils, which date back to the Late Triassic (237–201.3 million years ago), to be able to examine them in closer detail.
Sauropodomorphs are a clade of plant-eating, long-necked dinosaurs that lived from 231.4–66 million years ago and famously include the Late Jurassic-era Diplodocus.
Southern Wales used to be home to the long-necked dinosaurs known as’sauropodomorphs’. A look at footprints from around 200 million years ago (pictured) revealed this.
Sauropodomorphs are a clade of plant-eating, long-necked dinosaurs that lived from 231.4–66 million years ago and famously include the Late Jurassic-era Diplodocus. Although it’s impossible to determine which species made the footprint, Thecodontosaurus (pictured) is an example sauropodomorph who lived around the exact same time the tracks formed.
The tracks — found on a beach near Penarth (pictured) by walker Kerry Rees in 2020 — were examined by a team of experts from Liverpool John Moores University
The researchers think that this site was a place where sauropodomorphs used to congregate, based on the variety and density of fossilised footprints. Two photographs showing the trackway in closeup, illustrated and photographed.
The team also created 3D models of the trace fossils, which date back to the Late Triassic (237–201.3 million years ago), to be able to examine them in closer detail. Photo-textured footprint (left), and height-mapped (right).
Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum stated that there were many footprints to indicate the location was where sauropods congregated.
“There is evidence of tracks being made by different animals. However, there are so many prints with slightly different size that we suspect there’s more than one trackmaker,” he said.
“These kinds of tracks aren’t particularly common in other parts of the world so it is an interesting addition our knowledge about Triassic Life in Britain.
“Our Triassic dinosaur record in the country is quite small. Therefore, any information we find during that period will add to our understanding of what happened at that time.”
Researchers discovered that many fossilized footprints contain raised edges called’squelch marks.
They would have formed as the dinosaur dug its toes into the soft clay beneath.
They would have become trace fossils after being dried by the sun.
‘Trace fossils are those that capture aspects of an animal’s behaviour or anatomy which aren’t captured by its skeleton,’ Professor Barrett explained.
Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum stated that there are many footprints that indicate that the area was once home to sauropods.
Professor Barrett stated that while there might be hints of individual animal trackways, the prints are all slightly different in size and suggest there could have been more than one trackmaker. He stated that such tracks are rare worldwide and this adds to our knowledge about Triassic British life.
“The tracks at first seemed quite nondescript and we had to take a long time before being able to determine if they were actually tracks or holes in the ground,” said Peter Falkingham, paper author and vertebrate scientist from Liverpool John Moores University.
The impressions were overlapping in certain places when we carefully examined them, just as one would expect if several animals were trampling over the ground.
He said, “They appeared to occasionally occur at semi-regular spacings, as one would expect from trackways.”
“The best evidence came from an abandoned track, but it was still documented in 2009. I then used that information to create a 3D model.
“One track in the model displayed what we took to be digit impressions. This confirmed that it was indeed tracks.”
Peter Falkingham, a paper author and vertebrate scientist at the Liverpool John Moores University, stated that the tracks appeared to be nondescript initially and that it took them a long time to determine if these were actually tracks or holes in the ground. “The best evidence came from an abandoned track, but it was still documented in 2009. I then used that information to create a 3D model. Pictured: the models of the site as it appeared in 2020 (left) and 2009 (centre) — with a composite of the two shown right
!['One of the tracks visible in that model had what we interpreted as digit impressions [pictured], and that sealed the deal for us that they were indeed tracks,' said Dr Falkingham](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/12/29/16/52333191-10352809-_One_of_the_tracks_visible_in_that_model_had_what_we_interpreted-m-133_1640794504672.jpg)
“One of those tracks was visible on that model. We interpreted it as digital impressions. [pictured]”That sealed the deal, that was for us, that they actually were tracks,” said Dr Falkingham
South Wales has been a hotbed of dinosaur footprints since 1879.
These previous finds — preserved within the 227–201.3 million-year-old ‘Mercia Mudstone’ that outcrops along the northern coast of the Severn Estuary — have also been attributed by some palaeontologists to sauropodomorph dinosaurs.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Geological Magazine.
South Wales has been known to find dinosaur footprints in its region since 1879. Pictured: The traces that were discovered in the area of Penarth last year are shown here
KILLING THE DINOSAURS: HOW A CITY SIZE ASTEROID REMOVED 75 PERCENT OF ALL PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES
Non-avian dinosaurs died out around 66 million years ago, and over half of the species in the globe were extinct.
The mass extinction of mammalian species opened the door to the appearance of human beings and their rise.
The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
It crashed into what was now the Gulf of Mexico.
A huge cloud of soot and dust was released by the collision, which caused global climate change and decimated 75% of all plant and animal species.
Research suggests that global disasters like this one could not have been caused by a direct hit to Mexico’s rocks located in shallow waters. These rocks are rich in hydrocarbons.
Experts think that within 10 hours after the shock, the Gulf coast was hit by a huge tsunami.
Nearly 66,000,000 years ago, non-avian dinosaurs were extincted and over half of all species disappeared. Chicxulub is frequently cited (stock image).
It caused earthquakes or landslides even in Argentina.
Researchers discovered small pieces of rock and other debris from the crash site.
They are also known as spherules. These small particles coated the surface of our planet with thick layers of soot.
Experts say that the total collapse of the aquatic system was caused by the absence of light from the sun.
It is because almost all aqua food chains had to be free of phytoplankton.
According to some estimates, the 180 million-years of evolution that led to Cretaceous points in the history of the earth were destroyed in less time than the life span of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. This Tyrannosaurus is approximately 20-30 years.