'Dinosaur claw' found in front garden sparks fears of velociraptors running around the UK
A British woman has sparked fears of dinos running around the UK after she made an unusual discovery in her front garden.
Laura Moorcroft, 36, who lives in Buckley, Wales, came across what she claims is the claw of some prehistoric beast and reached out to experts at the Chester Zoo and a local vet for some answers.
She said: “I instantly thought it was from a dinosaur. My husband and I had just come back from a walk and he noticed it on the grass. It looks prehistoric to us – a scaly lizard-like claw.
“We’re huge fans of Jurassic Park so instantly thought it was from a dinosaur, I mean it looks very lizard-like doesn’t it?”
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Moorcroft also explained why her garden's CCTV couldn't capture the image of the mystery creature.
She said: “One said it was like a pheasant and the other a turkey so we’re still none the wiser.
“We have CCTV but it was a bit too far down the garden to pick anything up, so it remains a mystery."
Moorcroft further added: “I like our guess of a velociraptor best – I love that people had the same thinking. I saw someone had thought it was a Gremlin! We didn’t think something like this would grab everyone’s attention.”
Her post online sparked speculation, leaving many wondering if it was from a bird or poultry, while others guessed it could be something like an alligator, crocodile or tortoise.
Both Chester Zoo and a local vet even seemed baffled by the mystery.
"One said it was like a pheasant and the other a turkey so we’re still none the wiser," she explained.
However, she is convinced it was from a 'dinosaur', but her assumption was burst by a biologist from Harvard University.
Arkhat Abzhanov said: “The first birds were almost identical to the late embryo from velociraptors."
He clarified that real velociraptors were also feathered and about the same size as turkeys.
Though, the mystery remains unsolved.
In 2021, an incredible footprint of a dinosaur was discovered on a Yorkshire beach, however, it was determined that it was made 166 million years ago by a megalosaurus that stopped for a rest.
Archaeologist Marie Woods was out collecting shellfish on the beach at Burniston Bay, near Scarborough, when she discovered more than just that night's dinner.
Now, two years later the fossilised footprint is set to go on display at Scarborough's Rotunda Museum, which is quite fitting since it's the largest footprint of a bipedal (walks on two legs) dinosaur ever found in Yorkshire.
Going by the size of the footprint experts believe the dinosaur was a large meat eater which could have been up to 30 feet long.
Marie wasn't actually the first person to discover this fossilised footprint, with local collector Rob Taylor getting a look at it five months before it was uncovered in April 2021, but her full discovery of it was very significant.
Rashi Agarwal