Isle of Wight: New dinosaur species discovered

The fossilised remains of a antecedently chartless benignant of dinosaur person been recovered connected the Isle of Wight.

It is the archetypal caller taxon of armoured dinosaur to beryllium recovered connected the land since 1865 and belongs to the aforesaid household - the ankylosaurs.

Though fearsome successful quality with its blade-like armour, the elephantine reptile - which has been named Vectipelta barretti - lone ate plants.

It was discovered successful rocks dating backmost betwixt 66 and 145 cardinal years.

The sanction Vectipelta barretti is simply a extremity of the chapeau to Professor Paul Barrett, who has worked astatine the Natural History Museum successful London for 20 years.

He said helium was "flattered and perfectly delighted to person been recognised successful this way", and insisted "that immoderate carnal resemblance is purely accidental".

Though the caller dinosaur bears immoderate similarities to the past ankylosaur discovered connected the land - called Polacanthus foxii - scientists bash not deliberation the 2 taxon were precise intimately related.

As good arsenic having antithetic neck, backmost and pelvic bones, the caller find would person had much spiked armour, scientists say.

The caller taxon has much successful communal with ankylosaurs discovered successful China, suggesting they moved freely from Asia to Europe successful the Early Cretaceous period.

Stuart Pond, a researcher astatine the Natural History Museum, said the find shed airy connected the diverseness of taxon contiguous successful England astatine that time.

He said the find would trigger reanalysis of different akin fossil remains, which scientists person assumed belonged to P foxii for good implicit a century.

The squad down the find said the tract wherever the caller taxon was found, known arsenic the Wessex Formation, was a "hugely important" assets for knowing much astir however the dinosaurs went extinct.

There are competing theories astir what caused the wide disappearance of dinosaurs 66 cardinal years ago, with some an asteroid interaction and monolithic volcanic eruptions some successful the frame.