Illustration of White Rock spinosaurid by Anthony Hutchings. A new study by paleontologists at the University of Southampton’s EvoPalaeoLab shows that several distinct groups of spinosaurs inhabited Cretaceous Britain. Credit: UoS/A Hutchings
SciTechDaily has a story about dinosaurs in Britain. A recent paper in the journal Peerj Life & Environment proposes that multiple spinosaur species lived in Britain during the early Cretaceous Period. Baryonyx is the most popularly known species. The researhers looked at spinosaur teeth and found significant differences.
The Wealden is famous for its spinosaur fossils. Baryonyx – discovered in the Wealden of Surrey in 1983 – is one of the world’s most significant spinosaur specimens, since it was the first to reveal the true appearance of this crocodile-headed, fish-eating group. Less impressive spinosaur remains – isolated teeth – are common throughout the Wealden, and have often been identified as belonging to Baryonyx. However, some experts have long suspected that this is incorrect, and such is confirmed by the new study published in PeerJ Life & Environment.
“We used a variety of techniques to identify this specimen, in order to test whether isolated spinosaur teeth could be referred to Baryonyx,” said lead author Chris Barker, whose PhD focuses on the spinosaurs of southern Britain. “The tooth did not group with Baryonyx in any of our data runs. It must belong to a different type of spinosaur.”
