Unprecedented dinosaur footprint washes up on Yorkshire coast

They found a gigantic footprint left by a dinosaur 166 million years ago off the Yorkshire coast in the UK.

Credit: Marie Woods/University of Manchester

(CNN) --

A gigantic meat-eating dinosaur likely rested or crouched in Yorkshire 166 million years ago, digging its feet deep into the ground.

The colossal creature left behind an unprecedented footprint recently discovered along the UK's 'Dinosaur Coast'.

The Jurassic footprint, measuring nearly three feet long, is the largest of its kind found in Yorkshire.

Thousands of dinosaur tracks and many fossils have been recovered off the Yorkshire coast over the years.

But this discovery was made in April 2021 by local archaeologist Marie Woods while she was walking along the coast.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I had to double check," Woods said in a statement.

"I've seen some smaller footprints when I was out with friends, but nothing like this. I can't say 'archaeologists don't do dinosaurs' anymore."

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Woods is co-author of a study describing the footprint, published Tuesday in the academic journal Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society.

Woods contacted paleontologist Dean Lomax, an honorary visiting scientist at the University of Manchester, to get his take on what he had found in Burniston Bay, about 3 miles north of Scarborough.

Just the day before, Lomax had shared an image of a dinosaur footprint found in the same area in 2006.

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"Marie contacted me while I was on the beach, with the fossil in front of me," said Lomax, co-author of the study and author of "Dinosaurs of the British Isles."

"At first, to be completely honest, I thought it was some kind of joke," he said by email.

"The fact that Marie would go out and see this on the beach seemed impossible to me. Also, Marie is an archaeologist, and she and I have always joked that one day she will make an amazing paleontological discovery."

(From left to right) John Hudson, Marie Woods and Dean Lomax with the dinosaur footprint.

Credit: Dean Lomax/University of Manchester

Rare evidence of Jurassic dinosaurs

The three-finger print is one of only six found in the area, with the first being found in 1934.

"This important discovery is further evidence that giant carnivores inhabited this area during the Jurassic," says John Hudson, lead author of the study and a local geologist.

"The type of footprint, combined with its age, suggests it was made by a ferocious Megalosaurus-like dinosaur, with a possible hip height of between 2.5 and 3 meters."

Megalosaurus was the world's first official dinosaur, named in 1824 after the discovery of bones in Oxfordshire, England, according to Lomax.

This carnivorous dinosaur, one of the largest predators of its time, had a large skull armed with sharp, serrated teeth, and its body reached 8 to 9 meters in length.

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Concerned that the footprint would erode further if it was left on shore, the team took it upon themselves to safely remove it.

Fossil collectors Mark, Aaron and Shae Smith carefully collected the print and donated it to the Scarborough Museum and Galleries.

"We are incredibly grateful to Mark, Aaron and Shae for rescuing this important specimen and ensuring it was saved for science," Lomax said.

"Now that the specimen has been studied, plans are underway to have it put on public display, to spark the imagination of the next generation of fossil hunters."

Hudson and Lomax were able to study the print in detail after it was moved, allowing the researchers to better understand the dinosaur that made the print.

The duo analyzed the shape of the footprint, the number of toes and claw marks, as well as the impressions made by the dinosaur's skin.

"The most intriguing feature of our footprint is a long preserved portion on the hindfoot, which is an impression of what we call the metapodium," Lomax said.

"Its presence could suggest that our large carnivore squatted in the mud before getting up and walking away. It's amusing to think that this dinosaur might as well have been strolling along a muddy coastal plain on a quiet Sunday afternoon in the Jurassic."

This illustration shows a Megalosaurus, the dinosaur believed to have left its footprint.

Credit: James McKay/University of Manchester

Hudson and Lomax also collaborated on the study with geologist Dr. Mike Romano, a faculty member emeritus at the University of Sheffield.

Romano has collected and studied hundreds of dinosaur tracks along the Yorkshire coast over the past two decades.

Some 25 different types of dinosaur footprints have been identified in the area.

"The east coast of Yorkshire is known as the Dinosaur Coast for very good reasons," Romano said in a statement.

"Although these different types do not necessarily represent the same number of different dinosaurs, they do indicate a diverse ecosystem of animals, both carnivorous and herbivorous, that roamed the coastal plain and the Jurassic (fluvial) complex around 160-175 million years ago. The footprints also allow us to interpret their behavior, so we have records of dinosaurs walking, running and swimming."

Once work on the fossilized footprint is complete, it will be on public display, among other places, at the Rotunda Museum at Scarborough Museum and Galleries.

Fossil hunter Rob Taylor (left) initially saw part of the track, but it was not fully exposed at the time.

Marie Woods (right) found her five months later.

Credit: Marie Woods/University of Manchester

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