Diner at Chinese restaurant finds dinosaur footprints from 100 million years ago

A diner at a restaurant in China's Sichuan province spotted something which was lying there in plain sight for over a 100 million years - the footprints of a dinosaur.

The footprints were discovered in the outer courtyard of the restaurant in Leshan, CNN reported, and they belonged to two sauropods , those gigantic lizard-type dinosaurs with small heads, massive bodies, and a long tail.

The report said a team led by paleontologist Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences confirmed the finding on Saturday using a 3D scanner.


Their study said the footprints belonged to two 8-metre hulks from the Cretaceous period , which lasted from 140 million years ago and 66 million years ago, when giant dinosaurs roamed around shaking the ground beneath their feet as they walked.

Sauropods were the largest terrestrial animals, and new studies have revealed these behemoths may have had a cushion of soft tissue beneath their feed to help them carry the immense weight of their bodies.

Sauropod means 'lizard foot' and the most famous genera, spread across millions of years, include the Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus.

So, how did these footprints survive so long in a China which is rapidly urbanising? The report said it was used as a chicken farm and that the footprints were buried by layers of dirt and sand.