A new species of dinosaur has been discovered in Britain.
The bones of Comptonatus chasey, a herbivorous dinosaur that lived 125 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, were first discovered in 2013 on cliffs at Compton Bay on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England, but the identity of the dinosaur had never been identified until now.
The skeleton, which consists of 149 bones in total, is thought to be the most complete dinosaur found in the UK in the last 100 years.
Comptonatus chasey is named after the late fossil hunter Nick Chase, who discovered the bones.
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Artist John Sibbick’s work depicts Comptonatus chasei, a new species of herbivorous dinosaur whose fossils were discovered on the Isle of Wight in the UK. (John Sibick/Distributed via Reuters)
“Nick had an extraordinary sense of smell to find dinosaur bones… This is a truly amazing find,” Jeremy Lockwood, a doctoral student at the University of Portsmouth who was involved in the excavation, said in a statement.
“This helps us to better understand the different types of dinosaur that lived in Britain during the Early Cretaceous period,” he added.
Comptonatus chasey, a member of a group of dinosaurs called iguanodonts, weighed about 2,000 pounds, about the same as a large male American bison, Lockwood said.
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This image shows the pubic bone of Comptonatus chasei, a new species of herbivorous dinosaur whose fossils were unearthed on the Isle of Wight in the UK. (University of Portsmouth/Distributed via Reuters)
Just two years ago, what may be Europe’s largest carnivorous dinosaur was discovered on the Isle of Wight.
“The size of this specimen is impressive – it is one of the largest, possibly the largest, terrestrial predators that ever lived in Europe,” said Chris Barker, a PhD candidate in palaeontology at the University of Southampton.
The bones were discovered on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
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This dinosaur also lived in the Cretaceous period and belonged to a group called spinosaurs.
Reuters contributed to this report.
