Comptonatus (meaning "the Compton thunderer") is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. Its remains are known from the Wessex Formation in England. The type and only species is C. chasei.
| Comptonatus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Neornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Family: | †Iguanodontidae |
| Genus: | †Comptonatus Lockwood, Martill & Maidment, 2024 |
| Species: | †C. chasei
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| Binomial name | |
| †Comptonatus chasei Lockwood, Martill & Maidment, 2024
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Discovery and naming
editThe holotype specimen, IWCMS 2014.80, was excavated in September–October 2013, close to where a Valdosaurus specimen was recovered the previous year. It is the most complete ornithopod dinosaur found on the Isle of Wight since Mantellisaurus in 1914.[1][2]
Comptonatus was described as a new genus and species of iguanodontian dinosaur in 2024. The generic name, Comptonatus, combines the name of the location Compton with the Latin tonatus, meaning "thundered", and has the intended meaning of "the Compton thunderer", in reference to its discovery location and large size. The specific name, chasei, honours the late Nick Chase, who won the Palaeontological Association's Mary Anning Award in 2018 and discovered the specimen.[1][3]
Classification
editComptonatus was entered into a phylogenetic analysis using the dataset of the description of the contemporary Brighstoneus.[4] It was found to be in a clade with Iguanodon, Barilium, and Mantellisaurus, all from southern England, which has been termed the Iguanodontidae. The cladogram from the analysis is shown below:[1]
Paleoenvironment
editComptonatus is one of several iguanodontians known from the Isle of Wight, distinct from Iguanodon, Brighstoneus, and Mantellisaurus. The deposition of the Wessex Formation likely spans several million years, and so it is unlikely to have been contemporaneous with all of these other taxa. The Wessex Formation had a warm and semi-arid Mediterranean climate, formed on alluvial meander plains. Forests on higher ground north of the floodplain consisted of Pinophyta, Ginkgophyta, Pteridophyta, Cycadophyta. Forest fires and floods were common occurrences, resulting in the formation of plant debris beds.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c Lockwood, Jeremy A. F.; Martill, David M.; Maidment, Susannah C. R. (2024-12-31). "Comptonatus chasei, a new iguanodontian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, southern England". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 22 (1). Bibcode:2024JSPal..2246573L. doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2346573. ISSN 1477-2019.
- ^ "The most-complete UK dinosaur in a century has been found on the Isle of Wight". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ^ Hall, Rachel; Sample, Ian (2024-07-10). "Dinosaur unearthed on Isle of Wight identified as new plant-eating species". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ^ a b Lockwood, Jeremy A. F.; Martill, David M.; Maidment, Susannah C. R. (2021-11-10). "A new hadrosauriform dinosaur from the Wessex Formation, Wealden Group (Early Cretaceous), of the Isle of Wight, southern England". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (12): 847–888. Bibcode:2021JSPal..19..847L. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1978005. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 244067410.