Dinosaur foot bone found

The dinosaur fossil was found in a Dorset stone quarry

A bone believed to have come from a 20-tonne dinosaur has been discovered in a stone quarry in Dorset.

The fossil is thought to be a foot bone from a giant four-legged dinosaur, according to a spokesman for Dorset County Council.

It was pulled out of rocks known as the Purbeck Beds, in Portland, formed in an arid lagoon about 130 million years ago and famous for dinosaur footprints.

Scientists believe this may be the first dinosaur bone found in the rocks in Portland.

Mind boggling

Richard Edmonds, Earth science manager for the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site, said: "At first we thought that it might be the limb bone from a dinosaur.

"But to find that it is a smaller part of the foot makes the mind boggle over the total size of the beast.

"This creature would be five metres high at the shoulder and weighed about 20 tonnes."

Scientists say they are baffled as to why bones from the animals that made the Portland prints are so rare.

Dr Paul Barrett, of the Natural History Museum in London, added: "It is an important find, as to my knowledge it is only the second dinosaur bone recovered from the Lower Purbeck Beds in Dorset."

Quarry owners, the Crown Estate, have allowed the bone to go on permanent loan to the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester.

They will also be taking extra precautions when stripping the next layer of stone at the quarry, as it is hoped that further bones may emerge.