Footprints discovered on a beach in Wales are believed to have been made by an early dinosaur more than 200 million years ago, experts say. Paleontologists at London’s Natural History Museum said the footprints, which originated from the Triassic period, were thought to belong to a very early sauropod(蜥脚类动物) relative.

“We know early sauropods were living in Britain at the time, as bones of Camelotia, a very early sauropod, have been found in rocks dated to the same period,” Dr. Susannah Maidment, a paleontologist at the museum who was involved in the research, said in a statement announcing the findings. “We don’t know if this species was the track-maker, but it is another clue which suggests something like it could have made these tracks.”

Maidment and her colleague, professor Paul Barrett, were initially sent images of the tracks at the beach in Penarth by an amateur paleontologist in 2020. At first, they had doubts of the findings. “We get a lot of enquiries from members of the public for things that could be trackways but many are geological(地质学的) features that can easily be mistaken for them,” Maidment said. “However, from the photographs, we thought they were a fairly good contender(竞争者) for something that could be tracks and that it would be worth taking a look.”

The pair cooperated with colleagues and found that the site had been previously inspected by Cindy Howells, a paleontologist from the National Museum of Wales, a French team, and a group from Cardiff University. Maidment and Barrett went to the site to investigate the tracks and record measurements. “We believed the impressions we saw at Penarth were consistently spaced to suggest an animal walking. We also saw displacement rims where mud had been pushed up. These structures are characteristic of active movement through the soft ground,” Barrett said in the museum’s announcement of the findings. Their findings could also reveal information about the dinosaurs’ behavioral qualities, such as how they walked, and traveled in herds.

1.When was the footprints dated back?

A The Triassic period.

B The modern London.

C The sauropod days.

D 20 million years ago.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章第一段第二句“Paleontologists at London’s Natural History Museum said the footprints, which originated from the Triassic period”可以得知该恐龙脚印来自三叠纪时期(the Triassic period)。

2.What was the track-maker?

A A rock.

B A bone.

C A sauropod.

D A museum.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据文章第二段中Dr. Susannah Maidment所述，当时（三叠纪时期）有早期的蜥脚类动物生活在当时的英国（卡米洛特龙(Camelotia)的骨头为证），虽然他们不知道是否就是卡米洛特龙这种生物留下了这些脚印，但这是另一条线索表明应该是类似卡米洛特龙的物种留下的脚印，即也是一种蜥脚类动物。故选C。

3.Why was Paul Barrett doubtful of the tracks at first?

A They brought too many public enquiries.

B They could be geological features similar to tracks.

C They weren’t showed clearly in photographs.

D They weren’t tracks worth taking notice.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据文章第三段第二句的“...but many are geological features that can easily be mistaken for them”可以得知，因为一些地理特征容易被误解成是恐龙的脚印，因此他起初对这些脚印是持怀疑态度的。故选B。

4.What conclusion did Maidment and Barrett draw in their findings?

A The dinosaurs were moving on soft ground.

B The dinosaurs were having a good rest there.

C The dinosaurs left displacement rims by chance.

D The dinosaurs travelled through there many times.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据最后一段的“We believed ... to suggest an animal walking...These structures are characteristic of active movement through the soft ground”可以得知，他们认为这些恐龙当时是在松软的地面行走。故选A。