Dinosaur footprints in Penarth date back 200 million years

Dinosaur footprints found on a beach in south Wales are actually a "trackway" of footprints dating back more than 200 million years, researchers have found.

The imprints in Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan, were reported to researchers in 2020, sparking a wide-ranging study into their origins.

It is believed the footprints are from an early ancestor of the giant diplodocus, and date back to the Triassic period.

The footprints have been scanned using state-of-the-art 3D imaging technology but will be left in place until they are eroded by the sea.

The study into the footprints was conducted by a group of palaeontologist from Cardiff University, National Museum Wales, Natural History Museum, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Lyon.

30 December 2021