A fossilised jawbone discovered by a University of Portsmouth student has been confirmed as a new species of prehistoric mammal.
The fossil was uncovered by 22-year-old undergraduate Benjamin Weston during a field trip to Durlston Bay, near Swanage in Dorset – part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Named Novaculadon mirabilis, the jawbone dates back 145 million years to the Berriasian age of the Early Cretaceous period.
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Discovering Novaculadon mirabilis
The 16.5mm jaw fragment belonged to a now-extinct group of mammals called multituberculates. These small, rodent-like creatures are known for their unusual teeth. Weston’s specimen includes a long, pointed incisor and four sharp premolars, separated by a gap – a distinctive arrangement that helped palaeontologists identify it as a new species.
“I instantly had my suspicions of what the jaw was when I found it at the beach, but couldn’t have imagined where the discovery would take me,” says Weston, whose findings were published in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.
"I’m extremely grateful to the team and to the university for helping me take my first steps into academic palaeontology.”
The find is the first multituberculate jaw to be discovered at Swanage since the Victorian era. Its unusually sharp teeth inspired its scientific name: 'novacula' means razor, and 'mirabilis' refers to the remarkable preservation of the fossil.
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Novaculadon mirabilis: a closer look
The fossil was partially embedded in rock, so the research team turned to the university’s advanced CT scanning facilities. Dr Charles Wood, senior scientific officer in the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, helped scan the fossil to reveal its hidden details.
The scan data was then sent to Jake Keane, a former Portsmouth palaeontology student. Within hours, Keane had digitally removed the surrounding rock and isolated individual teeth for analysis. Using this data, the university's 3D printing lab produced enlarged models of the jaw, allowing detailed study without damaging the fossil.
Dr Steve Sweetman, who specialises in Early Cretaceous mammals and helped with the study, says, "This is a remarkable find that reminds me of when Grant found those extraordinary eutherian mammal teeth,” referring to a previous student discovery. “When I first saw Grant's specimens, my jaw dropped – and I had exactly the same reaction to Ben's multituberculate jaw.”
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The fossil suggests Novaculadon mirabilis was an omnivore, likely feeding on insects and worms. Its teeth show a feeding strategy quite different from today’s squirrels and rats, highlighting the variety of roles that early mammals played in their ecosystems.
Multituberculates were one of the most diverse groups of mammals during the Mesozoic era. They thrived alongside dinosaurs for over 130 million years, surviving the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs but eventually going extinct themselves about 33 million years ago.
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Find out more about the study: A new multituberculate (Mammalia, Allotheria) from the Lulworth Formation (Cretaceous, Berriasian) of Dorset, England
Top image: Jurassic Coast. Credit: Getty
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