Scientists discovered a new type of dinosaur on the Isle of Wight, England, named Vectipelta barretti. The dinosaur had spikes on its armor and is estimated to have lived in the Early Cretaceous period between 145 million and 100 million years ago.
▲ Barretwickti Ankylosaurus restoration.
▲ Barretwickti Ankylosaurus fossils.
The origin of the name Barretwickty Ankylosaurus is taken from Paul Barrett, a scientist at the Natural History Museum in London, who studied the fossils of this ankylosaurus for nearly 20 years, until it was finally identified as a new dinosaur species, and the research paper was published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology on the 15th of this month.
The fossils of ankylosaurs found on the Isle of Wight over the past 142 years all belong to Polacanthus foxi, and now there is finally a second type of ankylosaur, which researchers believe is closely related to Chinese ankylosaurs, which means that dinosaurs were able to move between Asia and Europe in the early Cretaceous.
▲Restoration of Chinese ankylosaurus.
Since almost no fossils have been excavated from the early Cretaceous, Barretwickti Ankylosaurus is of great significance for paleontological research, and the research team believes that more new species will be discovered in the future on the Isle of Wight, an important source of dinosaur fossils. （XD）