Dinosaur bones discovered on the Isle of Wight’s beaches belonged to a new dinosaur species, a close relative of the giant theropod Spinosaurus. Local fossil-hunters discovered the remains on Brighton’s beaches, published in the journal Scientific Reports on Wednesday. Over several years, paleontologists from the Dinosaur Isle Museum excavated the entire site.
In a news release, Jeremy Lockwood, a fossil collector from the Isle of Wight, said, “We recognized when the two snouts were found that this would be something uncommon and exceptional.” “Then it simply became more and more incredible as additional people discovered and contributed pieces of this massive jigsaw puzzle to the museum.”
Paleontologists in the United Kingdom found that the dinosaur remains belonged to two new spinosaurid species after a thorough anatomical examination. Ceratosuchops inferodios, the “horned crocodile-faced hell heron,” and Riparovenator mineral, the “Milner’s riverside hunter,” both had long, flat, crocodile-like jaws and sharp teeth atop a tyrannosaurus-like body, similar to Spinosaurus.
Both dinosaur species, who lived 125 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous, were presumably predators who stalked the margins of swamps and lakes, snatching fish and tiny reptiles off the banks and shallows of freshwater environments, much like herons do today.