Dinosaur fans will be excited by the news that footprints from plant-eating sauropods, which lived around 170 million years ago, have been identified on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh identified the tracks - made by some of the largest creatures to roam Britain - in layers of rock that would have once been salt water lagoons.
Dr Tom Challands (l) and Dr Steve Brusatte pose by sauropod tracks on Skye, credit Mark Wilkinson.JPG
It's been a good year for dinosaurs: the latest discovery follows the release in June this year of the film Jurassic World, more than two decades after Jurassic Park first brought dinosaurs to life with its unprecedented special effects.
A new dinosaur species – a dog-sized theropod believed to date back 200 million years – was also discovered in Wales this summer.
An artists impression of what the dinosaur found in Wales would have looked like (Photo: Bob Nicholls/National Museum of Wales/PA) Photo: Bob Nicholls/National Museum of Wales/PA
If dino-frenzy has reached a fever pitch in your house, here are five places to take your budding palaeontologist.
1. Jurassic Coast
Collecting fossils can fire a child's imagination (Photo: Photolibrary.com) Photo: PHOTOLIBRARY.COM
Head to Lyme Regis or Charmouth for some hands-on exploration of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous cliffs. Anyone with even a passing interest in fossils will find something to do at the Lyme Regis Museum.
Also in Lyme Regis, the privately owned Dinosaurland Fossil Museum is popular, particularly for older children; it’s full of fossils, has quizzes to complete as you go around, and features displays not just on dinosaurs, but evolution, generally. Owner Steve Davies can give you top tips for where to search for fossils on the coast.
• Fossil walk on Dorset's Jurassic Coast
2. Isle of Wight
Dinosaur remains are so ubiquitous on the Isle of Wight that there’s even an app. Download it to follow in the footsteps of giants, or head to Compton Bay or Yaverland beaches to search for fossils.
The exceptionally keen can join a guided fossil walk with one of the Isle of Wight's dinosaur experts. Caught in the rain? Head for Dinosaur Isle at Sandown, an interactive museum with life-sized reconstructions, some of which move, that also houses over 1,000 fossils, including those from some of the 15 dinosaurs known to have come from the Isle of Wight.
• Isle of Wight: Britain's capital of dinosaurs
3. Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum's Diplodocus skeleton has recently moved (Photo: Alamy) Photo: ALAMY
Any budding palaeontologist will relish exploring the dinosaur galleries at London’s Natural History Museum: from the Triceratops skull, to the first T-rex fossil ever found, there’s plenty to look at here. The museum excels at interactive activities for a range of ages: don an explorer’s hat and grab your binoculars if you’re under seven, and explore the galleries with a specially-targeted activity book.
Children of all ages can book in to get a feel for how real scientists work at the Investigation Centre.
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4. National Museum of Scotland
A giant Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton guards the Natural World galleries at the National Museum of Scotland. While you can’t touch the skeletons, there’s a chance for children to get hands-on in the interactive Adventure Planet gallery, where they can uncover dinosaur skeletons.
5. Dinosaur Adventure
If you can get past the slogan – ‘It’s time you came-n-saurus’ – young fans will enjoy coming face-to-face with life-sized dinosaur models on a wooded trail, and can expend energy in a variety of indoor and outdoor adventure playgrounds at Dinosaur Adventure in Norfolk.
• Will science ever bring back the dinosaurs? Palaeontologist Dr David Hone explains all
Did we miss your favourite dinosaur attraction? Let us know in the comment box below
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