SCIENTISTS have identified Britain’s oldest sauropod dinosaur from a fossil bone discovered on a beach at a seaside resort.

The dinosaur fossil is an extremely rare find, given the Middle Jurassic rocks of the world are only exposed in a few areas, such as China and Argentina where similar-aged dinosaur fossils originate.

The vertebra or backbone originates from a group of dinosaurs that includes the largest land animals to have ever walked on Earth.

This new sauropod dinosaur, from the Middle Jurassic Period at about 176 million years old, was found near Whitby, after falling out of a cliff face.

The find represents the earliest skeletal record of this type of dinosaur in the UK.

It also adds to existing evidence stemming from dinosaur tracks which are abundant in Middle Jurassic rocks in the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Basin area, which is the second most popular area in the UK for fossil hunting.

Dr Victoria Egerton, of Manchester University, who helped identify the fossil, said: “The Jurassic Park that was once Yorkshire clearly has much more to offer science in our understanding of the distribution and evolution of dinosaurs.”

Sauropods, which are often referred to as brontosaurs, include some of the largest plant-eating dinosaurs to have roamed the Earth and were a successful group for nearly 150 million years.

They possessed distinctive long necks and tails, small heads, a large body and walked on all fours.

Some species such as the Argentinosaurus grew up to 115 feet long and possibly weighed as much as 80 tonnes.

The fragmentary nature of the new find from Yorkshire means it is not possible to generate a new species of dinosaur.

The vertebra will be on show at the Yorkshire Museum in York, from Monday (June 8).