The world's oldest fossilised footprints

Seoul - The world's oldest fossilised webbed footprints of birds, believed to be 110 million years old, have been found on a South Korean island, a scientist said on Thursday.

Kim Jeong-Yul, an earth science professor at the Korea National University of Education in Cheongju, said his team discovered 100 fossilised prints on Changseon Island, 270 kilometres south of Seoul.

"The prints were found in a geological stratum created 110 million years ago," he said, adding each print was 4.5cm wide and 5.1cm long (about 2x2 inches).

The prints are believed to have been made during the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era, Kim said in a statement.

The find has been reported to a South Korean natural science society for approval, he said. The fossils were named "Ignotornis yangi."

At present Haenam county, 180km west of the island, has the world's oldest fossilised webbed bird prints. They are estimated to have been made 94 million years ago.