More than a century after it was first unearthed, a fossil from South Wales has been identified as belonging to a previously unknown dinosaur.
The fossil, a partial jawbone found near Penarth in 1899, has been on display in the National Museum of Wales for many years. While it has been examined numerous times, its true identity has remained uncertain.
Now, palaeontologists from the University of Bristol have used modern digital techniques to identify it as a new species, named Newtonsaurus cambrensis.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Geologists Association, say the discovery sheds new light on Britain’s prehistoric past and reveals that a giant predator – a flesh-eating dinosaur belonging to the theropod group, which later gave rise to birds – once roamed the Welsh coastline.
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Uncovering the new predatory dinosaur
“This specimen has been referred to many times in scientific papers, but had yet to be successfully identified – we were not even sure whether it was dinosaur,” says palaeontology student Owain Evans, who led the study.
“It was named Zanclodon cambrensis by Edwin Tully Newton in 1899, but we knew the name Zanclodon had been abandoned as referring to a broad variety of early reptiles,” explains Evans. “Therefore, we name it after Newton, calling it Newtonsaurus. It is different from all other dinosaurs from around that time, and requires a distinctive name.”
Back in 1899, Newton reported that the specimen “was obtained by Mr. John David, of Porthcawl (Glamorganshire), from a mason, who was engaged in preparing stone for building a wall, at Stormy Down, near Bridgend.”
Newton attempted to verify the location and horizon from which the fossil had been obtained, noting that “Stormy Down is within the boundary of the Penarth or Rhaetic Beds on the old edition of the Geological Survey map; but whether the bed which yielded the fossil lies above or below the Avicula contorta-shales is a point still under investigation."
The researchers say the fossil was most likely extracted from sandstones of the Penarth Group, named after the seaside town of Penarth near Cardiff.
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The original bone has long since disappeared, leaving only impressions in the rock. “The natural moulds of the inner and outer faces of the jawbone show amazing detail – every groove, ridge, tooth, and even the serrations along the edges of the teeth,” says Professor Michael J Benton, senior author of the study.
By scanning the specimen with high-resolution photography, the researchers created a detailed digital reconstruction that allowed them to study the anatomy of the jaw in unprecedented detail.
“The digital reconstruction we have extracted from the specimen gives a much better idea of what the original structure of the bone would have looked like,” explains Benton.
“Most unexpected is the size of the animal,” says Evans. “The preserved jawbone is 28cm long, and that is just the front half, so originally the jawbone was 60cm long.” Using the jawbone as a guide, the researchers estimate the dinosaur had a body length of 5–7 metres, unusually large for the Triassic period, when most theropods were at least half the size.
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For the National Museum of Wales, the find highlights the hidden potential of historic collections.
“These historical specimens are vitally important in palaeontology and often yield new and exciting results – even if they have been sitting in collections for years,” says Cindy Howells, curator at the museum.
“The Victorians were fascinated by the fossil record and prospected all across the UK for fossils. On top of this, the re-description of Newtonsaurus cambrensis once again highlights the significance of Wales in palaeontological research. These Triassic beds are rare worldwide, and yet there are several across Wales. There might very well be another dinosaur waiting to be discovered.”
Top image: researchers say the dinosaur would have roamed the southern shores of Wales. Credit: Getty
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