Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is one of the richest dinosaur localities in Europe, with over 20 species of dinosaur having been recognised from the early Cretaceous Period (in particular between 132 and 110 million years ago), some of which were first identified on the island, as well as the contemporary non-dinosaurian species of crocodile, turtle and pterosaur.

Compton Bay, near Freshwater features dinosaur footprints which are visible at low tide.

Geological strata

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The Isle of Wight has layers of the Vectis and Wealden fossil-bearing beds exposed on the southern half of the island. These are revealed in the cliffs of Yaverland, close to Sandown, and at Hanover Point and Whale Chine, along the southwestern coast.

The Cretaceous habitat

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The island's dinosaurs come from the Wessex Formation, which dates from between 125 and 110 million years ago (mya). During this time the Isle of Wight, then located on a latitude at which North Africa resides today, had a subtropical environment and was part of a large river valley complex, which ran along the south coast of England to Belgium. It was a world of ponds, rivers and swamps, so it had conditions favourable for the formation of fossils.

Animal remains from this time include crocodiles, turtles, pterosaurs, mammals and possibly some birds. In the water were snails, fish and mussels.

As this environment did not change much, over the course of 10 million years, a large number of fossils were formed, so the island today is a very rich source.

List of dinosaur species and genera

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Unless otherwise specified, the following is a list of dinosaurs for which almost complete skeletons have been found on the island. There are also many more species, known only from a single or very few bones.

Order Ornithischia

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Order Saurischia

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Baryonyx, a large theropod, was found with fish scales in its stomach, indicating that it may have been a piscivore.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lockwood, Jeremy A. F.; Martill, David M.; Maidment, Susannah C. R. (10 November 2021). "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.
  2. ^ Thomas J. Raven (2021) The taxonomic, phylogenetic, biogeographic and macroevolutionary history of the armoured dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) (PhD thesis)
  3. ^ Naish, Darren (12 July 2006). "'Angloposeidon', the unreported story, part I". Tetrapod Zoology.
  4. ^ Taylor, Mike (6 November 2008). "Mystery sauropod dorsals of the Wealden, part 3: BMNH R88/89 — Britain's Best Brachiosaur (for now)". SVPOW.
  5. ^ "Sauropod dinosaurs". Field Guide to English Wealden Fossils. Palaeontological Association. 2011.
  6. ^ "Iuticosaurus, an Isle of Wight Titanosaurid". DinoWight. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  7. ^ Wright, T. (1852). Contributions to the palaeontology of the Isle of Wight. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2:87-93.
  8. ^ "Ornithopsis, an Isle of Wight Brachiosaur". DinoWight. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b Barker, C.T.; Hone, D.; Naish, D.; Cau, A.; Lockwood, J.; Foster, B.; Clarkin, C.; Schneider, P.; Gostling, N. (2021). "New spinosaurids from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, UK) and the European origins of Spinosauridae". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 19340. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1119340B. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97870-8. PMC 8481559. PMID 34588472.
  10. ^ Huene, F. von, 1923, "Carnivorous Saurischia in Europe since the Triassic", Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 34: 449-458
  11. ^ Longrich, Nicholas R.; Martill, David M.; Jacobs, Megan L. (June 2022). "A new dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Wessex Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of the Isle of Wight, and implications for European palaeobiogeography". Cretaceous Research. 134: 105123. Bibcode:2022CrRes.13405123L. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105123. S2CID 245324247.
  12. ^ Barker, Chris; Naish, Darren; Clarkin, Claire; Hullman, Gabriel; Schneider, Philipp; Gostling, Neil; Farrell, Paul; Ward, Robin; Lockyer, James (2020). "Dryad Data -- Data from: A highly pneumatic 'mid Cretaceous' theropod from the British Lower Greensand". Dryad. doi:10.5061/dryad.8cz8w9gmj. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Deborah Cadbury, The Dinosaur Hunters (Fourth Estate) ISBN 1-85702-963-1; a history of the early history of the discovery of dinosaurs in the United Kingdom. Includes brief references to collectors on the island.
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Other meanings

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Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight (Palaeontological Association, 2001) ISBN 0-901702-72-2, is also the title of a field guide to dinosaurs found on the island, by Darren Naish and David Martill.