"Beautifully preserved dinosaur footprints found recently near Hastings in southern England are the most diverse and detailed ever found in the U.K.
More than 85 of these trace fossils, representing at least seven species, were discovered and documented by a Cambridge University research team.
“As well as the large abundance and diversity of these prints, we also see absolutely incredible detail,” said lead author Anthony Shillito. “You can clearly see the texture of the skin and scales, as well as four-toed claw marks, which are extremely rare.”
As most of the footprints are confined to the fallen blocks, the majority are of single footprints; some are trackways of two to three, but never more than five in a row.
This highly diverse range of well-preserved footprints (with likely more to be revealed with further erosion) adds to an already substantial list of dinosaur finds in the Hastings area.
These include the original Iguanodon (1822), and the incredible find of the first-ever fossilized dinosaur brain.
“To preserve footprints, you need the right type of environment,” said co-author Neil Davies. “The ground needs to be ‘sticky’ enough so that the footprint leaves a mark, but not so wet that it gets washed away. You need that balance in order to capture and preserve them.” Of course, they would still need to be buried quickly under another layer of sediment before being eroded away.
The majority of the footprints were made in the silty mud that hardened into mudstone which lies just beneath the sandstone.
Many of those made in the lowermost layer of the sandstone, which also records ripple marks, lack skin impressions. So the consistency of the material the dinosaur stood in directly affected the detail of the print left behind.
Indeed some of the fossil footprints in the mudstone show where the mud was slightly too wet, leaving a less well-defined footprint and mud squelching up inbetween the dinosaur’s toes.
The study also revealed that there was widespread invertebrate burrowing in the rocks they examined, but that this never occurred internally within the dinosaur footprints. The implication of this is that the dinosaur stepped into soft material in which burrowing had freshly occurred, and before this could continue a new layer of sediment was rapidly laid down on top, preventing any further burrowing.
So slow-and-gradual processses can’t explain this magnificent track site that preserves high-fidelity skin and claw impressions. A far better explanation is the global Noahic Flood some 4,500 years ago. As the Flood “waters prevailed on the earth 150 days” (Genesis 7:24), it would deposit sedimentary layers."
CMI
More than 85 of these trace fossils, representing at least seven species, were discovered and documented by a Cambridge University research team.
“As well as the large abundance and diversity of these prints, we also see absolutely incredible detail,” said lead author Anthony Shillito. “You can clearly see the texture of the skin and scales, as well as four-toed claw marks, which are extremely rare.”
As most of the footprints are confined to the fallen blocks, the majority are of single footprints; some are trackways of two to three, but never more than five in a row.
This highly diverse range of well-preserved footprints (with likely more to be revealed with further erosion) adds to an already substantial list of dinosaur finds in the Hastings area.
These include the original Iguanodon (1822), and the incredible find of the first-ever fossilized dinosaur brain.
“To preserve footprints, you need the right type of environment,” said co-author Neil Davies. “The ground needs to be ‘sticky’ enough so that the footprint leaves a mark, but not so wet that it gets washed away. You need that balance in order to capture and preserve them.” Of course, they would still need to be buried quickly under another layer of sediment before being eroded away.
The majority of the footprints were made in the silty mud that hardened into mudstone which lies just beneath the sandstone.
Many of those made in the lowermost layer of the sandstone, which also records ripple marks, lack skin impressions. So the consistency of the material the dinosaur stood in directly affected the detail of the print left behind.
Indeed some of the fossil footprints in the mudstone show where the mud was slightly too wet, leaving a less well-defined footprint and mud squelching up inbetween the dinosaur’s toes.
The study also revealed that there was widespread invertebrate burrowing in the rocks they examined, but that this never occurred internally within the dinosaur footprints. The implication of this is that the dinosaur stepped into soft material in which burrowing had freshly occurred, and before this could continue a new layer of sediment was rapidly laid down on top, preventing any further burrowing.
So slow-and-gradual processses can’t explain this magnificent track site that preserves high-fidelity skin and claw impressions. A far better explanation is the global Noahic Flood some 4,500 years ago. As the Flood “waters prevailed on the earth 150 days” (Genesis 7:24), it would deposit sedimentary layers."
CMI