Scientists identify new dinosaur species in 'exciting' discovery off the coast of England

Scientists have identified a new species of dinosaur on the so-called "dinosaur island" off the coast of England, known for discoveries of fossilized dinosaurs and other remains.

The new species is the first armored dinosaur to be discovered on the Isle of Wight in 142 years. It's been named the Vectipelta barretti, after professor Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum in London, a renowned dinosaur expert, the museum said Friday.

Its discovery potentially broadens scientists' understanding of the diversity of species living in what is now the UK over a hundred million years ago, the museum said.

The dinosaur's discovery was published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. The authors of the journal article said it was named for Barrett "in recognition of his major and ongoing contributions to dinosaurian vertebrate palaeontology."

What did the dinosaur look like?

The Vectipelta barretti is part of the ankylosaur family, dinosaurs that ate plants and had short legs and a broad body with "an extensive covering of dermal armour on the head, body and tail," scientists said in their article.

It dates back to about 125 million years ago, when Europe would have been a series of scattered islands rather than a large land mass, the museum said. The island would have been home to humid forests.

The only other armored species found there to date was the Polacanthus, and the new dinosaur differs from it in some key ways that make researchers sure it's a distinct species.

"It has features on its neck and back vertebrae that differ, while it also has more blade-like and recurved spikes which we don't see in the Polacanthus material that we have," researcher and co-author of the journal article Susie Maidment said.

Barrett said he was "flattered and absolutely delighted" for the recognition.

"I'm sure that any physical resemblance is purely accidental," he said.

How was it discovered?

Partial remains of the new dinosaur were excavated from the Isle of Wight in the 1990s, and brought to the Dinosaur Isle Museum where scientists began working on it, said Stu Pond, of the Natural History Museum in London, a lead author of the journal article.

"It has been quite exciting," Pond said.

When it was found, "the skeleton lay with its anterior facing out to sea, and the dorsal vertebrae were scattered" in the area, researchers said. "The pelvis was upside down, indicating that the specimen was probably lying with its dorsal surface downwards."

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Scientists said Vectipelta barretti doesn't seem to be closely related to other armored dinosaurs in the UK, but has closer ties to two Chinese ankylosaurs, "suggesting a complex pattern of dispersal to and from Europe, North America and Asia during the Early Cretaceous."

"This is perhaps surprising, given the minimum 16-million-year stratigraphical, and significant geographical, separation between" the species, they said in their report.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New dinosaur discovered on Isle of Wight, named after professor