Ancient dinosaur footprint dating back 100 million years discovered near coastal town

A massive dinosaur footprint of the Iguanodon species, which dates back over 100 million years, has been found on a beach in England, news agency SWNS reported.

Paleontologist Joe Thompson, a fossil guide with Wight Coast Fossils who unearthed the print, told Fox News Digital that he made the discovery on the Isle of Wight as he set out for the beach with the intention of finding some fossils.

"The geology is perfect for it," he said in an on-camera interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)

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Thompson had been walking for an hour or two when he came across a large purple object in the clay.

"It turned out it was an absolutely huge Iguanodon footprint," he said.

Iguanodon fossils are quite common all over the world, according to Thompson. Specimens have even been found in some U.S. states, including Utah and Colorado. 

The dazzling aspect of the discovery lies in the massive size of the dinosaur's footprint, according to Thompson. (SWNS)

The Isle of Wight and the U.K. as a whole are exceptionally rich areas for fossil hunting, Thompson said.

Some of the most famous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period include the three-horned Triceratops and the giant Patagotitan — but those won't be found on the Isle of Wight, he noted.

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Instead, people are likely to find remnants of animals like the Iguanodon, which left the giant footprint that Thompson discovered last week.

"They’re just amazing beasts," he said of the dinosaurs, which could grow as large as 32 to 36 feet long. "They walked around in huge groups eating vegetation — they were herbivores."

An Iguanodon skeleton is displayed at the Natural History Museum in London. The footprint that Thompson found came from this species, he said. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The most dazzling aspect of the discovery lies in its size, according to Thompson.

"This footprint was absolutely massive — just under a meter [roughly 3 feet] long. So a pretty huge Iguanodon, a lot bigger than almost every other Iguanodon footprint found on that section of the coast," he said.

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"It's possible it could be a species of Iguanodon we don't know about yet, because it is a lot bigger than the other footprints found in the slightly older rocks on the Isle of Wight."

"We're not really going to know until we find fossils from those same layers [of rock]."

As the coast's layers are constantly eroded by the sea, fossils do turn up, making the Isle a popular tourist attraction. 

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Wight Coast Fossils, the company for which Thompson conducts tours, leads groups along the shore to find pieces of history. 

"It's possible it could be a species of Iguanodon we don't know about yet."

Thompson recently launched his own company, South Coast Fossils, which offers people the opportunity to search for things like shark teeth and fossil shells.

Digging into the cliff isn't allowed, but if those on the tour see any fossils that are washed out onto the beach, they’re welcome to take them home, he said.

"It's always good to report it to a museum if it could be something important," Thompson added.

Joe Thompson, pictured here, also found the fossilized jawbone of what could be a new species on the Isle of Wright. (SWNS)

If the discovery does end up being recognized as a new variety of Iguanodon, this wouldn’t be the first species Thompson has discovered along the Isle.

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"I actually found a mammal jaw on the north coast of the Isle of Wight," he said, speaking about a 30 million-year-old bone. 

"Nobody really knows what it could be from, but probably from a small carnivorous mammal. So something eating small rodents and stuff like that. That's really exciting."

(Joe Thompson, a paleontologist, describes how he unearthed a 100-million-year-old dinosaur footprint on a beach in England. The "massive" print is of the Iguanodon species.)

Thompson’s Iguanodon find, while impressive, has likely disappeared due to the soft clay in which he found it.

"The soft nature of the rock it is preserved in means it probably won't last very long," he said. "So the likelihood is that it's probably not visible or accessible anymore, which is a shame."

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He added, "That makes it quite special in that way, that it's just a fleeting glimpse of this amazing footprint probably never to be seen again. So, quite lucky I caught it in time."