By Mal Butler
A 130-million-year-old dinosaur print, which has been found on the Island, is unlikely to last for much longer.
Palaeontologist Joe Thompson discovered the Iguanodon print by chance, on a walk at Shepherd’s Chine, near Atherfield.
Joe, a guide from Wight Coast Fossils, encountered the three-toed, three-foot-wide purple ornithopod dinosaur track in the ancient flood-plain clays.
He explained: “I was on my own, walking between Shepherd’s Chine and Grange Chine, which is not a stretch of beach many people tend to visit. At first, I just saw the middle toe in the shingle. It stood out because it was coloured purple, which was due to the different minerals and oxidised irons from the mud which filled in the footprint over the course of time. I scraped back the shingle and sand, and saw the completed footprint; it was really exciting.
“I had a pretty good idea that it was an Iguanodon print based on the size and shape of its toes. Iguanodons toes are relatively wide and short. It might be a younger version of previous Iguanodons which have been discovered, but to confirm this, we would need to see a skeleton or some bones.”
The remarkable find, revealed by the shifting shingle, having survived for millions of years, won’t be here for long.
Joe added: “The clay tracks are often short-lived, being eroded away relatively quickly once exposed. It will only be around for a few months at most, but I might pop back a bit later to see if it is still there.”
The exciting pre-historic find follows the recent discovery of a 100million-year-old ammonite at St Catherine’s Point.
Isle of Wight Observer