New armored dinosaur found on English island

The discovery surprised paleontologists: they will have to revise their knowledge

A new species of armored dinosaur has been discovered on the English Isle of Wight. Experts say previous ankylosaurus remains on the island will have to be revised in light of the new find.

On the Isle of Wight, located in the English Channel at a distance of 5-8 km from the coast of Hampshire, a new species of dinosaurs with an armored body was discovered.

According to Sky News, the ancient reptile was found in a fossil site dating from 145 to 66 million years ago and called the Wessex Foundation.

The new species belongs to the group of herbivorous ankylosaurs and was named Vectipelta barretti – in honor of Professor Paul Barrett, who worked at the Museum of Natural History for 20 years.

This is the second armored dinosaur found on the island since the discovery of Polacanthus foxii in 1865.

The new find has distinct neck and back bones from those of its predecessor, and analysis has shown contrasting pelvic structures and more spiked armor.

In ankylosaurs, a feature of appearance is its “armor”, consisting of massive cones and bone plates or scutes, called osteoderms.

Experts say the newly found dinosaur is most closely related to some Chinese ankylosaurs, suggesting they roamed between Asia and Europe during the early Cretaceous.

Stuart Pond, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, said: “For almost 142 years, all of the Isle of Wight ankylosaurus fossils have been assigned to Polacanthus foxii … now all of these finds need to be revised because we have described this new species.”

He added: “This is an important specimen because it sheds light on the diversity of ankylosaurs within the Wessex Formation and Early Cretaceous England.”

Professor Paul Barrett said he was “honored and absolutely delighted” that the dinosaur was named after him and that any physical resemblance was “purely coincidental”.

The study was published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Last year, paleontologists announced the discovery of a previously unknown small, armored dinosaur in southern Argentina, a creature that likely walked upright on its hind legs, roaming the then wet landscape some 100 million years ago.

According to them, this Cretaceous dinosaur would have been well protected by rows of bone disc-shaped armor along the neck and back and all the way to the tail. He was about 1.5 meters long and weighed only 4-7 kg, like an average domestic cat.

Its fossils have been excavated over the past decade near a dam in Patagonia, in the paleontological zone of La Buitrera in the province of Rio Negro.

The scientists said the dinosaur marked the first of its kind discovery of a shell dinosaur from the Cretaceous period in South America. It is part of a group of thyrophoran dinosaurs that includes species such as the Stegosaurus, known for its bony dorsal plates and spiked tail, and the tank-like Ankylosaurus, covered in armor and possessing a mace-like tail.