20 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New Study Exposes Origins of Welsh Dragons

In a new study conducted by a team from the University of Bristol and published in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, crucial details about the early Welsh dinosaurs have been unveiled for the first time.

Wales now has important new information about the dinosaur era thanks to a major fossil find. There was no evidence of dinosaur presence in the land of the dragon until recently. However, several dinosaur fossils have been reported over the past decade, although their living conditions remained largely unknown.

Researchers found that early Welsh dinosaurs from over 200 million years ago lived on a tropical lowland beside the sea. Dinosaur trackways are known from Barry and other sites nearby, showing that dinosaurs had walked across the warm lowlands.

The discovery was made at Lavernock Point, close to Cardiff and Penarth, where the cliffs of dark-colored shales and limestones document ancient shallow seas. At several levels, there are accumulations of bones, including the remains of fish, sharks, marine reptiles, and occasionally, dinosaurs.

Former student of the Bristol MSc in Paleobiology Owain Evans, who led the study, explained, “The bone bed paints the picture of a tropical archipelago, which was subjected to frequent storms, that washed material from around the surrounding area, both in land and out at sea, into a tidal zone.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



“This means that from just one fossil horizon, we can reconstruct a complex ecological system, with a diverse array of marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and placodonts in the water, and dinosaurs on land.

Artist’s depiction of a British Archipelago during the Triassic
Image Credit: Gabriel Ugueto
Artist’s depiction of a British Archipelago during the Triassic Image Credit: Gabriel Ugueto

“I had visited the coast at Penarth all my life, growing up in Cardiff, but never noticed the fossils. Then, the more I read, the more amazing it became. Local geologists had been collecting bones since the 1870s, and most of these are in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.”

Cindy Howells, Curator of Palaeontology at the National Museum of Wales, adds: “The collections from Lavernock go all the way back to the 19th century, with many sections of the bone bed being collected over the years. The presence of dinosaur fossils at the site ensure that it remains one of the most significant localities for palaeontology in Wales.”

Two discoveries made by the team while conducting fieldwork at Lavernock were the fossilized remains of a placodont osteoderm, and a single coelacanth gular bone. Supervisor Dr Chris Duffin said: “The remains of coelacanths and placodonts are relatively rare in the UK, which makes these finds even more remarkable. These two fossils alone help build a broader picture of what the Rhaetian in the UK would have looked like.”

Professor Michael Benton from Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences, another project supervisor, adds, “The volume of dinosaur remains found at Lavernock is extremely exciting, and is a chance to study a complex, and often mysterious period in their evolutionary history. We have identified the remains of a large Plateosaurus like animal, along with several bones which likely belonged to a predatory theropod.”

A significant section of the paper is dedicated to the abundant microfossils found at the site, which include fish teeth, scales, and bone fragments. By examining thousands of specimens, the team was able to identify the key species in the shallow seas and work out the relative importance of each.

University of Bristol

Doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.001.

Related Articles

Archaeologists in the Tangier Peninsula Discovered Three Ancient Cemeteries, Including a Stone Burial Dating to Around 4,000 Years Ago

17 May 2025

17 May 2025

A significant archaeological discovery in northern Morocco’s Tangier Peninsula, situated just south of the Strait of Gibraltar, has led to...

A rare 2500-year-old saw, the first of its kind, discovered in Anatolia

28 November 2023

28 November 2023

Archaeologists conducting excavations in Çorum, the capital of the Ancient Hittite Empire in northern Turkey, discovered a 2,250-year-old saw. Recent...

500-year-old Ottoman bath revived after years of restoration

5 April 2024

5 April 2024

The 500-year-old Zeyrek Çinili Hammam, a masterpiece of Mimar Sinan and one of the most important examples of Ottoman Bath...

Hungary’s Hill of Hoards: 3,000-Year-Old Metal Finds Illuminate the Bronze and Iron Age Transition

5 May 2025

5 May 2025

A treasure trove of ancient metal artifacts, dating back over 3,000 years, has been unearthed at Somló Hill in western...

The ruins found in Nara could be the Imperial House of Female Emperor Koken

1 July 2021

1 July 2021

Archaeologists unearthed one of the largest building remains ever found at the former site of the Heijokyu palace in the...

7,000-year-old discovery in Umm Jirsan Cave

28 June 2021

28 June 2021

Archaeologists have made new discoveries in the Umm Jirsan cave in the Harrat Khaybar lava field in northern Saudi Arabia....

3,000-year-old necropolis found in southeast of Türkiye

16 October 2023

16 October 2023

A 3,000-year-old necropolis was unearthed during the excavations carried out in the Cehennem Deresi (Hell Creek) in Bağözü village of...

2,000-year-old Roman pewter hoard discovered in Suffolk

4 July 2023

4 July 2023

A rare hoard of Roman pewter has been discovered in Euston, western Suffolk, in eastern England. The rare discovery includes...

Over 7,000-Year-Old Traces of Life Discovered in Ratina Cave on Šćedro Island, Croatia

28 February 2025

28 February 2025

Recent archaeological excavations on Šćedro Island, located south of Hvar, have unveiled significant findings that challenge previous understandings of the...

Poland’s oldest copper axe discovered in the Lublin region

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

A copper axe from the 4th to 3rd millennium BC identified with the Trypillia culture was found in the Horodło...

2000-year-old ancient Roman Road, described as the most important in Scottish history, has been discovered

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

A 2000-year-old ancient Roman road was unearthed in Old Inn Cottage’s garden near Stirling, Scotland. The site is located a...

Over 4 feet long sword found in a medieval grave in Sweden

29 December 2023

29 December 2023

An unusual and exciting discovery was made during archaeological research at Lilla Torg in the port city of Halmstad on...

“Unprecedented” Phoenician necropolis found in southern Spain

28 April 2022

28 April 2022

A 4th or 5th-century B.C Phoenician necropolis has been found at Osuna in Southern Spain. A well-preserved underground limestone vault...

Mysterious ruins discovered at the bottom of Lake Van, Türkiye’s largest lake

16 August 2023

16 August 2023

At the bottom of Lake Van, Türkiye’s largest salty soda lake with 3,712 square kilometers, divers discovered a cemetery and...

1900 years old funerary altar of a teenage girl discovered in Rome

9 May 2022

9 May 2022

A funerary altar indicating the location of the remains of Valeria, a 13-year-old girl who died in the 2nd century...