New species of dinosaur that lived 125 million years ago identified in England
A new dinosaur species, Comptonatus chasei, the most complete skeleton found in England in 100 years, has been identified after it was found along country's southern coast.
A new species of dinosaur has been identified in England.
The bones of Comptonatus chasei, a herbivore that lived 125 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, were first found on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England in the cliffs of Compton Bay in 2013, but the dinosaur wasn't identified until now.
The skeleton – with 149 bones in total – is believed to be the most complete dinosaur found in the United Kingdom in the last 100 years.
Comptonatus chasei was named after late fossil hunter Nick Chase, who found the bones.
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"Nick had a phenomenal nose for finding dinosaur bones. ... This really is a remarkable find," Jeremy Lockwood, a Ph.D. student at the University of Portsmouth who was involved in the excavation, said in a statement.
He added, "It helps us understand more about the different types of dinosaurs that lived in England in the Early Cretaceous."
Comptonatus chasei, part of a group of dinosaurs called iguanodontians, would have weighed around 2,000 pounds, equal to a large male American bison, Lockwood said.
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Just two years ago, possibly Europe's largest carnivorous dinosaur was discovered on the Isle of Wight.
"The size of the specimen is impressive. It is one of the biggest, and possibly the biggest, known land predator ever to stalk Europe," said Chris Barker, a University of Southampton Ph.D. student in paleontology.
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The dinosaur, which also lived during the Cretaceous period, was part of a group called Spinosaurus.
Reuters contributed to this report.