Four-Year-Old Welsh Girl Discovers Dinosaur Footprint At The Beach

Scientists are always looking for more information about dinosaurs as some details can be hard to discern from fossils that are already available. A four-year-old girl from Wales was at the beach with her father and her dog when she discovered an extremely well-preserved dinosaur footprint. The fossilized footprint is so well preserved that paleontologists around the world are excited to study it.

The little girl who discovered the footprint is Lily Wilder, and she made the discovery near Bendricks Bay in southern Wales. The footprint is thought to have been left 220 million years ago. The little girl's mother said that the girl spotted the footprint on a low rock at shoulder height.

The little girl's mother says that she's excited about the discovery but hasn't grasped how amazing it is. The girl and her father took photos of the footprint while at the beach shared them with the family. The grandmother encouraged them to reach out to local experts for more investigation.

Scientists say it's impossible to identify exactly which type of dinosaur left the footprint, which measures 3.9-inches. However, they believe the dinosaur that left the footprint likely stood about 29.5 inches tall and about eight-feet long. They believe it was a thin creature with a tail that walked on two hind legs and hunted for other small animals and insects.

The footprint is known as a grallator and could help scientists learn more about how dinosaurs walked. What's so exciting about the footprint is how well-preserved it is. Researchers say you can see every detail of the muscles and where the joints are in the foot. Similar footprints have been discovered in the United States, but in Wales, there are no fossilized bones to match them. The fossil has been safely removed from the area and will be taken to the National Museum Cardiff.