- LISBON (AFP) - Scientists
said they have uncovered 130 100-million-year-old fossilised dinosaur footprints
on a beach in central Portugal.
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- "This is one of the places in Portugal with the
greatest concentration of dinosaur footprints," geologist Miguel Telles
Antunes of Lisbon's Universidade Nova told reporters at a news conference.
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- At least 100 footprints, which were found along 17 different
tracks in an 80 square metre (861 square foot) area, are very well preserved,
scientists said.
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- The site at Olhos de Agua, located some 70 kilometres
(43 miles) north of Lisbon, is still being cleared and researchers are
analyzing the find, which dates back to the early cretaceous period, the
last of three dinosaur eras.
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- The prints are likely to have been left by therapods,
the fast-moving two-legged carnivores with grasping hands that could grow
up to seven metres (23 feet) long, as well as by iguanodons, the giant
four-legged plant-eaters known for their long tails.
-
- Scientists were first alerted to the find by a local
resident who spotted some of the footprints while on a walk on the beach
in August.
-
- Local officials said they would cover the footprints
with plastic bags to protect them from winter rains and eventually hope
to put the dinosaur find on display to the general public.
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