It is true that some, if not the majority, of the most important discoveries, are the result of chance, but what are the chances that, while doing something that one is accustomed to doing, one stumbles upon something unexpected? Amazingly? Not much, and Marie Wood made a discovery she never imagined she would make: While on the Yorkshire coast looking for crustaceans and mollusks, hoping to find something to spice up her dinner, she was stumbled upon a dinosaur footprint.
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image credit: MariEWood/Twitter
Marie, an archaeologist, said: “All I wanted was to find shellfish for my dinner and I ended up stumbling upon that. I showed some paleontologist friends what I had found and none of it. ‘between them had never seen it. It’s really exciting. ” Yes, because it’s not just a dinosaur footprint, but the largest dinosaur footprint ever found on the coast. The size of the imprint, in which we can recognize three fingers, is indeed very impressive.
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image credit: https://twitter.com/MarieEWood…
After the discovery, Marie contacted several specialists, including paleontologist Dr. Dean Lomax, author of Dinosaurs of the British Isles. The latter claims that the dinosaur was a true Jurassic giant – certainly carnivorous – and it is certain that it is the “largest theropod footprint ever found in Yorkshire”. Experts also believe the dinosaur lived 164-175 million years ago and claim it is the most significant find in the region since 2006.
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image credit: https://twitter.com/MarieEWood…
Paleontologist Lomax also added that Marie Wood’s discovery is actually a rediscovery: in November 2020, indeed, the same footprint was spotted by fossil collector Rob Taylor. The latter posted photos of the find to a Yorkshire fossil Facebook group. But at the time, the significance of Mr. Taylor’s discovery had not been fully understood. The imprint is in a fragile state and, due to its proximity to water, it risks being lost at sea. The experts therefore set to work to recover the imprint and, if successful, it will be. on display at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.
source used: BBC