Do YOU know which type of animal this mystery talon belongs to? Experts left ‘baffled’ by ‘dinosaur claw’ found in couple’s front garden
- Laura Moorcroft of Buckley, Flintshire, and her husband discovered the finding
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A couple has left animal experts seemingly baffled after finding a mystery claw in their front garden in Wales.
Laura Moorcroft of Buckley, Flintshire, ‘instantly thought it was from a dinosaur’ when she and her husband discovered the remains.
She said: ‘Me and my husband 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?’
Sharing her photo online, Laura had locals weighing in with their guesses. Some said it was from a bird or poultry, but others suspected something reptilian like an alligator, crocodile or tortoise.
A couple has left animal experts seemingly baffled after finding a mystery claw in their front garden in Wales
Seeking a more informed opinion, Laura, 36, reached out to Chester Zoo and a nearby vet. They both said it came from a bird, but even they didn’t agree on what species.
‘One said it was like a pheasant and the other a turkey so we’re still none the wiser,’ said Laura.
She added: ‘We have CCTV but it was a bit too far down the garden to pick anything up, so it remains a mystery. I like our guess of a velociraptor (a small dinosaur) 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,’ she said about the online responses to her photo.
Laura Moorcroft (pictured) of Buckley, Flintshire, ‘instantly thought it was from a dinosaur’ when she and her husband discovered the remains
Modern birds are descended from theropods, a grouping that includes raptors and the Tyrannosaurus rex, according to Scientific American.
Arkhat Abzhanov, a biologist at Harvard University, told the magazine: ‘The first birds were almost identical to the late embryo from velociraptors.’
Unlike their movie counterpart, real velociraptors were also feathered and about the same size as turkeys.
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