On the coast of South Wales, a well-known “prehistoric hotspot,” a mother and daughter made an extraordinary discovery: they found camel footprints dating back an incredible 200 million years, confirming the presence of dinosaurs in Wales.

The five footprints, each an impressive 75 cm (30 inches) apart, make humans look more like ants, and according to a paleontology expert at the National Museum Wales, their enormous size put them among a “dinosaur species called Sauropodomorpha.”

“This is a pretty significant find – the excitement you get when someone contacts us with a definite dinosaur find is incredible,” said Cindy Howells, the dinosaur expert from the region BBCShe continued that until now, palaeontologists had not assumed that Wales was heavily populated by dinosaurs because “we had so few dinosaur finds.” However, in recent years, this picture has changed.

“Now we make a footprint or bone discovery every five or six years and we know that we have a continuous sequence of dinosaurs living in Wales for about 15 million years – that’s amazing,” Howells noted.

The land before time comes to the surface

This awe-inspiring discovery was made by 10-year-old Tegan and her mother Claire when they happened upon giant footprints on a beach. They immediately sent pictures to the museum, which responded immediately. The tracks appeared to belong to the dinosaur Camelotia, a member of the sauropod family characterized by long necks, tails, large bodies and small heads.

However, these gentle giants remain a mystery among the primeval animals of the prehistoric past. Since only a few specimens have been discovered, it is difficult to depict them because experts lack their exact appearance.

Howells still speculates that this “fairly large herbivorous dinosaur” left these prints, as “bones of a similar dinosaur have been found across the Bristol Channel.” So the picture of these creatures becomes clearer, as other finds of this particular dinosaur have been made in the area.

“A Camelotia would have been about 3 m (10 ft) tall and 4-5 m (13-16 ft) long and is an early sauropodomorph with a relatively long neck, a long tail, and a bipedal gait that could walk on all fours while grazing,” she described.

Although the footprints need to be scientifically verified, Howells can make a qualified prediction based on the markings. “If they were random holes, we would be cautious, but since we have a left foot, a right foot, and then a left and a right … there is a consistent distance between them,” she stressed.

This discovery marks a significant moment in both paleontological research and dinosaur history.

Building connections over time

Howells explained BBC that “Tegan’s footprints” – the little girl has already been immortalized – probably match the first dinosaur prints found in Wales in 1879. Later, more bones and prints were discovered in the region, which became known as a “prehistoric hotspot”.

With the excavation of the complete skeleton of a 201-million-year-old Dracoraptor in 2014 on the same beach where Tegan found the herbivore’s footprints, the distant past and its inhabitants were brought to life again.

While it was previously believed that Wales had no trace of the fascinating dinosaurs that continue to fascinate us, these discoveries completely change that picture.

Currently, the South Wales group of the Geologists’ Association, of which Howells is vice-president, believes it may be “the best non-Triassic dinosaur track site in Britain”.

“It’s hard to comprehend that you’re walking on the same beach as a giant prehistoric animal hundreds of millions of years ago,” Tegan concluded.