A total of 149 bones

Researchers find unknown dinosaur in England

The dinosaur was found in the south of England.

(Bild: University Of Portsmouth/ PA Medi, Krone KREATIV)

Researchers have made a very special discovery in the south of England. A previously unknown dinosaur with 149 bones has been discovered. It is the eighth dinosaur species to be discovered on the Isle of Wight in the past five years.

With 149 bones, the discovery is the most complete dinosaur skeleton found in the UK for a century, according to a report by the British news agency PA. The animal, whose species has been christened "Comptonatus Chasei", was found on the Isle of Wight, an island in the south of England known for its rich fossil deposits.

Considered a herbivore
The name is a combination of the place where the fossil was found, Compton Bay, and the name of the late discoverer, Nick Chase. The dinosaur - a herbivore that weighed a ton and was about the size of a male bison - lived around 125 million years ago.

"Comptonatus Chasei" belonged to the Iguanodontia group and probably lived in herds. This was suggested by dinosaur footprints found nearby, said Jeremy Lockwood according to PA. "It's possible that large herds of these dinosaurs caused the floodplains here to tremble when they were startled by predators," the researcher said.

Ecosystems with the greatest diversity
The doctoral student examined the fossil at the University of Portsmouth. According to him, the find shows that the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas were once among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Scientists hope the discovery, published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, will provide information on how habitats recovered after a mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic period.

The fossil points to a rapidly progressing evolution in Iguanodontia dinosaurs, PA quoted paleontologist Susannag Maidment from the National History Museum in London.