More than ten years after the investigation began, a study revealed a new type of dinosaur that lived 125 million years ago. With 149 bones found, it is one of the most complete fossils ever found in England.
“The description of the animal is the result of many years of work. Almost 150 bones have been found, making it the most complete dinosaur discovered in the UK in the last 100 years,” said Jeremy Lockwood of Natural History Museum. Organizations involved in the study.
The species Comptonatus chasei is named after paleontologist Nick Chase, who discovered the fossils on the Isle of Wight, 140 kilometers from London, in 2013. Chase, however, could not follow up on the conclusion of the study, published this Tuesday, the 9th, in the scientific journal Systematic Paleontology. He died of cancer in 2019.
The animal was identified as a herbivore – a classification of species that eat algae and plants – and is part of the iguanodon group. Dinosaurs from this same group were already found in Brazil, where the state of Paraíba is today.
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Comptonatus chasei weighed approximately one ton (similar weight to some species of hippopotamus) and researchers believe it was about 6 years old when it died. The bones were buried under vegetation, rocks and other debris, which contributed to their preservation over the years.
“Recent findings suggest that we've overlooked the fact that iguanodons were relatively diverse. It's not clear whether this is because they evolved faster than previously thought or because multiple species lived side by side. That's the next big question we need to try to answer. To understand these dinosaurs,” said Lockwood.
