4-YEAR-OLD

FINDS DINO
FOOTPRINT
IN WALES!
ONE OF THE BEST-PRESERVED DINOSAUR
FOOTPRINTS EVER FOUND IN THE UK HAS
BEEN DISCOVERED BY A LITTLE GIRL ON A
WELSH BEACH…
Last month, 4-year-old Lily Wilder was walking
along a rocky beach in Wales with her family when
an unusual-looking boulder caught her eye. When
she and her Dad stopped to take a closer look,
they quickly realised it wasn’t just any old rock – it
had a fossilised dinosaur footprint on it!

Excited by what they might have found, the Wilder

family called National Museum Wales to tell them
about the discovery. Fossil expert Cindy Howells
came to investigate, and confirmed what Lily
suspected: it was a prehistoric footprint!

The amazing fossil has been examined by

palaeontologists (scientists who study dinosaurs),
who estimate that the footprint is around 220
million years old!

It belongs to a group of fossils called Grallator

footprints, left by a variety of small dinosaurs,
including the American Coelophysis. Lily’s
discovery measures just over 10cm long, which
means that the dinosaur who left it probably
stood between 75cm and 2m tall! That’s about as
tall as an emu!

The dinosaur would have been a slender animal,

which walked on its two hind feet and actively
hunted other small animals and insects.

Lily made her discovery on Bendrick’s Bay near

Barry in South Wales. This area is a Site of
Scientific Interest, known for its fossil finds!!

“This fossilised dinosaur footprint is one of the

best-preserved examples from anywhere in the
UK“, said Cindy Howells, who works with fossils at
National Museum Wales. “It will really help
palaeontologists to get a better idea about how
early dinosaurs walked.”

Thanks to Lily and her family, this fossil has been

extracted and moved to National Museum Cardiff.
There, it can be enjoyed by others for generations,
and could have a significant impact on scientific
research. Amazing work, Lily!