“Dad, look!” This phrase was spoken by children around the world a million times before Great Britain now causes little sense – and four-year-old Lily Wilder has brought paleontologists’ recognition.
Like the BBC, you said that young Lily discovered an eye-catching pattern in a rock while walking on the beach in Bendrix Bay near the Welsh town of Barry. I called her father.
The footprint in the rock looked like a bird’s claw, but it was much larger. Father Richard snapped a printed photo, which Lilly’s mother eventually sent to the Paleontologists Group on Facebook, and eventually to the paleontologist at the National Museum of Wales. The result: Lilly discovered a 75 cm footprint of a dinosaur that lived about 220 million years ago.
ITV posted a photo of the surprise event on Twitter.
The footprint appears to have been preserved for thousands of years by thick layers of clay. While the area is famous for its fossil record, the Lilly find is “the best specimen ever found on this beach,” says Paleontologist Cindy Howells from the National Museum of Wales.
According to the BBC, similarities have been found with the influences of Coelophysis dinosaurs that were already present in the USA. It is a relatively young genus of carnivorous dinosaur that moves on two legs.
A statement from the National Museum of Wales said: “The amazing state of preservation can help scientists learn more about the structure of their feet, as the footprint allows them to draw conclusions about the marks of the legs and feet. The claws.” The impression has now been preserved and will be preserved in the museum.
The discovery also appears to have triggered Lily’s excitement, but choleretic decomposition is not somewhat uncommon. When asked which dinosaurs she liked the most, the four-year-old replied confidently “T-Rex”.
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