Fossilized remains of an unknown type of dinosaur have been found on the Isle of Wight. – writes the BBC science department.
It is the first new species of armored dinosaur to be found on the island since 1865 and belongs to the same family, the ankylosaurus.
Although it looked formidable with its blade-like carapace, the giant reptile only ate plants. The armored dinosaur was named Vectipelta barretti in honor of Professor Paul Barrett, who worked at the Natural History Museum in London for 20 years.
It was discovered in rocks and has been dated between 66 and 145 million years ago. Although the new dinosaur bears some resemblance to an ankylosaurus (Polacanthus foxii) that was recently discovered on the island, scientists don’t think the two species are closely related.
According to scientists, the bones of the neck, back and pelvis are different, and the new find probably had a more spiny carapace. The new species has many features in common with an ankylosaurus discovered in China, indicating that it moved freely from Asia to Europe during the early Cretaceous period.
Stuart Bond, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, said the discovery sheds light on the diversity of species that existed in England at the time. He said the discovery would lead to a re-analysis of other similar fossil remains that scientists had assumed belonged to P foxii for more than a century.
The site where the new species was found, the Wessex Formation, said the team who made the discovery is a very important resource for learning more about how dinosaurs became extinct.
There are competing theories about the cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago, such as one that an asteroid collided and another that it was caused by massive volcanic eruptions.
This discovery has been published in the journal Systematic Paleontology.
(Source: BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/)
