The footprint of a Jurassic dinosaur dating back 140 million years has been discovered by a jogger in a red squirrel nature reserve.
Sophie Giles, a National Trust ranger, came across the print while running around Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset.
The footprint has been identified as that of an iguanodon, an 11-meter-tall herbivore of 285 stones that walked the Earth during the Late Jurassic period.
It was uncovered in a slab of Purbeck stone that was quarried from the nearby Isle of Purbeck and transported to Brownsea about 50 years ago.
No one had noticed the footprint before until Mrs. Giles came across it.
The footprint ((photo) has been identified as that of an iguanodon, an 11-meter-tall herbivore of 285 stones that walked the Earth during the Late Jurassic period
A model of an Iguanodon in the Dinosaur Isle Museum on the Isle of Wight
A National Trust ranger came across the print while running around Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset (pictured)
Brownsea Island is a popular nature reserve and is known for its colony of endangered red squirrels
‘I was running and pass this place almost every day. It had rained and the water had collected in this footprint and it was suddenly visible,” she said.
‘I’ve looked at it so many times, but I never noticed it.
‘It has been used as a paving stone and was imported from Purbeck many years ago. The person who installed it didn’t realize how important it was at the time and it’s only now that we realize how amazing it is.”
Brownsea Island is a popular nature reserve and is known for its colony of endangered red squirrels.
Dr. Martin Munt, curator at the Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown, Isle of Wight, said: ‘When I first heard about the footprint I thought this must be wrong, a dinosaur print on Brownsea Island isn’t going to happen.
‘We can’t be sure what kind of animal made it, but we can be fairly certain that it is iguanodontic, because bones found in those rocks can be identified as such.
‘The footprint is in Purbeck rock so was probably part of building stone brought to the island.
‘The iguanodon is known to be found throughout southern England. It is quite widespread and is believed to be prominent along our coast.”
The public will have the chance to see the dinosaur print when Brownsea Island reopens next March.