Recent fossil finds in Wales have revealed the tropical habitats of the first dinosaurs and shed light on a complex prehistoric ecosystem, marking a major advance in understanding the paleontological history of the region.

A major fossil discovery has shed new light on the history of dinosaurs in Wales. Until recently, there were no dinosaurs in the land of dragons. However, in the last decade, the existence of many dinosaurs has been recorded, but their living conditions were not well known. In a new study conducted by a team from the University of Bristol, Proceedings of the Association of Geologistsimportant details emerged for the first time.

They discovered that the first Welsh dinosaurs lived in a tropical lowland near the sea more than 200 million years ago. Dinosaur tracks are known from Barrie and other nearby areas, indicating that dinosaurs roamed the hot plains.

Fossil remains at Lavernock Point

The discovery was made at Lavernock Point, near Cardiff and Penarth, where dark shale and limestone cliffs document ancient shallow seas. At various levels there are accumulations of bones, including the remains of fish, sharks, marine reptiles and sometimes dinosaurs.

Former Bristol MA paleobiology student Owain Evans led the research. He explained: “The bone bed paints a picture of a tropical archipelago that was subject to frequent storms, dragging material from the surrounding area into the intertidal zone, both on land and at sea. This is from just a single fossil horizon, from a wide variety of species, including aquatic ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and placodonts, and dinosaurs on land.” It means we can reconstruct a complex ecological system that includes marine reptiles.

“I’ve been around the Penarth coast all my life, growing up in Cardiff, but I’ve never seen a fossil. Then the more I read it, the more surprising it became. ‘Local geologists have been collecting bones since the 1870s and many of them are housed in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.’

Cindy Howells, Curator of Palaeontology at the National Museum of Wales, added: ‘The collections at Lavernock date back to the 19th century and many fragments of the bone bed have been collected over the years. The presence of dinosaur fossils from this site ensures that it remains one of the most important sites for palaeontology in Wales.’

The two discoveries made by the team during fieldwork at Lavernock were the fossilized remains of placodont osteoderm and a single coelacanth gular bone. Lead scientist Dr Chris Duffin said: “Laticulate and placodont remains are relatively rare in the UK, which makes these findings even more remarkable. These two fossils alone provide a broader picture of what a mouth in Great Britain would have looked like.” It helps.’

Another project leader, Professor Michael Benton from the Bristol School of Earth Sciences, added: “The diversity of dinosaur remains found at Lavernock is hugely exciting and an opportunity to study a complex and often mysterious period in their evolutionary history. “The discovery of a large animal like this We found the remains. Plateosaurusand a few bones that probably belonged to a carnivorous theropod.”

A significant part of the article is devoted to the numerous microfossils found in the region, including fish teeth, scales and bone fragments. By examining thousands of samples, the team was able to identify important species in the shallow seas and determine the relative importance of each. The origin of Welsh dragons has finally been determined.