Thousands of tourists visit Spain each year to marvel at the many natural and man-made wonders that dot the country's landscape. However, for one particular sightseer, his trip to the Iberian Peninsula ended up in one of the biggest paleontological finds in the history of the region.
According to reports, the hiker was exploring the hills near the city of Barcelona when he came across a fossilized footprint, which experts believe belonged to an ancient reptile known as the Isochirotherium. This prehistoric creature used to roam the Earth approximately 230 million years ago during the Middle Triassic era.
Officials from the autonomous regional government of Catalonia revealed earlier this week that the hiker found the reptile footprint on April 22 in an area near Olesa de Montserrat, some 25 miles north of Barcelona.
A local news agency has called the find as the best sample of a preserved footprint ever to be discovered in the Iberian Peninsula.
The town council of Olesa de Montserrat has created a plaster cast of the reptile footprint, and experts from the regional paleontology and archaeology service are already working on studying the prehistoric specimen.
Paleontologist Eudald Mujal from the Autonomous University of Barcelona pointed out that the Isochirotherium footprint was well preserved and that it still has many of its details such as the skin and claw.
Mujal explained that the ancient reptile belonged to the archosaur animal group, which now consists of birds and crocodilians.
He said that the Isochirotherium was of quadrupedal gait, much like crocodiles. However, these ancient creatures had a more erect posture and considerably longer legs compared to their modern-day counterparts.
This is not the first time a would-be traveler stumbled upon dinosaur footprints while on a hike. In 2014, a hiker in Utah came across more than 200 tracks made by dinosaurs some 125 million years ago.
