The footprint of the adorable baby dinosaur is only 6 cm long and is the smallest stegosaur footprint ever found.

A small footprint of a baby dinosaur has been discovered in China.

The imprint is only 5.7 cm long and the exact species that made it is unknown, but it is believed to be a tiny stegosaurus.

The most famous stegosaurus is the Stegosaurus, a giant plant-eating plant 21 feet long known for its protruding hind plates and mace-like tail.

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It is believed that a footprint found in China belongs to a stegosaurus baby, experts believe it would be armored and would have a pointed tail, just like huge adults (pictured, artist’s print)

On the right, the small footprint of stegosaurs that was found in China. It is shorter than the 30 cm footprints of much larger adult stegosaurus footprints that are also found on the site (left), indicating that young stegosaurs may have walked on their toes, such as birds. and cats.

Dr Anthony Romilla, co-author of the University of Queensland study, said: “This footprint was made by a herbivorous and armored dinosaur commonly known as the stegosaurus, the dinosaur family that includes the famous stegosaurus.”

“Like the stegosaurus, this little dinosaur probably had spikes on its tail and bone plaques on its back when it was an adult.”

Researchers who found the footprint in the Lower Cretaceous Tugulu group of Xinjiang province, China, say the footprint was found near much larger versions.

The international team of paleontologists says this indicates that the dinosaur was probably surrounded by older and older family members.

Writing in their scientific paper, published in the journal Palaios, experts say they pessimized the trail by a dinosaur known as ichnogenus Deltapodus.

They say the other nearby footprints are about six times larger and that the baby’s footprint is “the most compelling example of a Deltapodus known today.”

Finding a stegosaurus footprint less than 12 cm is very rare, with the smallest previous one being discovered up to 8 cm long.

The footprint has three small, wide, round impressions that, according to researchers, prove to belong to a stegosaurus.

In the image, the analysis of the small footprint (left) reveals the three small, rounded fingers of the stegosaurs.

They also say that its shape reveals that the young stegosaurs had a different gait than that of the much stronger adults.

Adult footprints are elongated, meaning giant dinosaurs walked with their heels on the ground, just like humans.

But the stegosaurus baby had his heel raised, indicating that he was walking on his toes, like a cat or a bird, without the bottom of his foot touching the ground.

“The stegosaurus could have passed to the heel as it aged,” said Dr. Lida Xing, the paleontologist at Beijing Chinese University of Geosciences who found the impression.

“A complete set of clues to these small footprints would provide us with the answer to that question, but unfortunately we only have one.”