Current:Home > StocksTrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-3-toed dinosaur footprints found on U.K. beach during flooding checks -Aspire Capital Guides
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-3-toed dinosaur footprints found on U.K. beach during flooding checks
Chainkeen Exchange View
Date:2025-04-11 05:56:06
Engineers working to prevent flooding on TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Centera beach in the United Kingdom made a "dramatic discovery" of dinosaur footprints, government officials announced Monday.
The Environment Agency engineers were working on sea defenses on the Yaverland seafront on the Isle of Wight when they made the discovery. The fossils date back about 125 million years.
Experts believe the fossilized footprints could be from a mantellisaurus, a type of dinosaur that had just three toes on each foot and traveled on its hind legs. Such creatures were more common on the isle's south coast, and a full-grown mantellisaurus would be about twice the length of a car. A mantellisaurus skeleton that is one of the most complete dinosaur fossils in the United Kingdom was found on the Isle of Wight in 1917.
Multiple dinosaur fossils have been found on the seafront in recent years, so a team from the local Dinosaur Isle Museum was on hand, officials said, even before the newest fossils were discovered. According to Dr. Martin Munt, the curator of the museum, the Isle of Wight is "the richest dinosaur location in Europe."
"What we now call the Isle of Wight was perfect habitat for dinosaurs, generating a diverse collection of bones and fossils over millennia, an impressive roll-call for scientists to explore," Munt said in the news release, noting that the area was once "heavy with plants, crocodiles, pterosaurs, amphibians, fish and invertebrates like insects and freshwater mussels."
Nick Gray, the flood and coastal-risk manager for the area at the Environment Agency, said in a statement that the find shows the importance of coastal conservation.
"Dinosaurs existing right where our team is working brings old and new together – the modern challenges of combatting climate change with a period of time we can only imagine," he said. "We've all read the stories and seen the films, but this gives us just a hint of what life was like. Reducing coastal flood and erosion risk to island people, property and infrastructure is a priority for the Environment Agency, but we'll continue to have more dinosaur discoveries in mind."
In June 2023, fossils of a previously unknown species of dinosaur were found on the Isle of Wight. Researchers described the dinosaur species as having had "blade-like spiked armor," and it was the first species from the wider Ankylosaur family to be discovered on the isle in 142 years.
In 2022, scientists said that a dedicated fossil hunter named Nick Chase had found the bones of a giant crocodile-faced dinosaur on the isle's beaches. From the bones found, researchers were able to determine that the creature was "bigger than the biggest known specimen" previously found in Europe.
The Isle of Wight is off the south coast of England.
- In:
- Britain
- United Kingdom
- Fossil
Kerry Breen is a news editor and reporter for CBS News. Her reporting focuses on current events, breaking news and substance use.
veryGood! (98248)
Related
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Score 70% Off Banana Republic, 60% Off J.Crew, 65% Off Reebok, $545 Off iRobot Vacuums & More Deals
- A Jewish veteran from London prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings
- Owner of UK’s Royal Mail says it has accepted a takeover offer from a Czech billionaire
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Syria’s main insurgent group blasts the US Embassy over its criticism of crackdown on protesters
- Maradona’s heirs lose court battle to block auction of World Cup Golden Ball trophy
- Authorities arrest man allegedly running ‘likely world’s largest ever’ cybercrime botnet
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook's new contract is designed to help him buy a horse
Ranking
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Hungary’s foreign minister visits Belarus despite EU sanctions, talks about expanding ties
- Dance Moms' Kelly Hyland Shares Signs That Led Her to Get Checked for Breast Cancer
- Former TikToker Ali Abulaban Found Guilty in 2021 Murders of His Wife and Her Friend
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- The Latest | 2 soldiers are killed in a West Bank car-ramming attack, Israeli military says
- Biden to make his first state visit to France after attending D-Day 80th commemorations next week
- UN chief cites the promise and perils of dizzying new technology as ‘AI for Good’ conference opens
Recommendation
'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
Google to invest $2 billion in Malaysian data center and cloud hub
'Couples Therapy': Where to watch Season 4, date, time, streaming info
Get three months of free Panera coffee, tea and more drinks with Unlimited Sip Club promotion
Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
Man accused of driving toward people outside New York Jewish school charged with hate crimes
Minnesota man dismembered pregnant sister, placed body parts on porch, court papers show
Ohio attorney general must stop blocking proposed ban on police immunity, judges say