() — A new species of spiked armored dinosaur has been discovered on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.
Called Vectipelta Barrettiis the first armored dinosaur, or ankylosaur, to have been found on the island in 142 years, according to a statement from London’s Natural History Museum, where several of the researchers who made the discovery work.
The dinosaur would have lived during the early Cretaceous period, between 145 and 100.5 million years ago, according to the museum.
The new armored dinosaur was discovered on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. Credit: Natural History Museum
There are few fossils from this period around the world, which some believe suggests that there was a mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic, which preceded it.
Given the lack of fossil records from the early Cretaceous period in other parts of the world, the Isle of Wight is vitally important to our understanding of what happened, the museum said.
“This is an important specimen because it sheds light on the diversity of ankylosaurs in Formation Wessex and in the Early Cretaceous of England,” said study lead author Stuart Pond, a researcher at the Natural History Museum.
“For virtually 142 years, all ankylosaur remains on the Isle of Wight have been assigned to Polacanthus foxii, a famous dinosaur from the island, now all those finds need to be reviewed because we have described this new species.”
The new species presents several differences with respect to the Polacanthus foxiihitherto the only ankylosaur known from the island, with variations in the neck and back vertebrae, as well as the pelvis and spiked armor.
The team’s analysis showed that the Vectipelta Barretti it is most closely related to Chinese ankylosaurs, suggesting that dinosaurs may have moved between Asia and Europe in the early Cretaceous.
The dinosaur is named after Professor Paul Barrett, who has worked at the museum for 20 years.
“I am flattered and absolutely delighted to have been recognized in this way, especially since the first article I ever wrote was also about an armored dinosaur from the NHM collections. [Museo de Historia Natural]”, he said in the statement.
“I am sure that any physical resemblance is purely accidental,” he added.
The study was published in the academic journal Journal of Systematic Palaeontologyand the team believes that more new species will be discovered on the Isle of Wight, an important source of dinosaur fossils, in the future.
In June 2022, scientists identified the remains of a spinosaurus, a two-legged predatory dinosaur with a crocodile face, on the island.
It would have measured more than 10 meters in length and weighed several tons, making it one of the largest land hunters in Europe.
— Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.
