The dinosaur is thought to be a herding animal that weighed the same as an African elephant. It was part of a group of dinosaurs often described as th

Most complete dinosaur fossil in a century discovered on the Isle of Wight

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2024-07-10 15:00:13

The dinosaur is thought to be a herding animal that weighed the same as an African elephant. It was part of a group of dinosaurs often described as the "cows of the Cretaceous period".

The hefty dinosaur, now called Comptonatus chasei, roamed southern England around 125 million years ago and would have weighed as much as an African elephant.

"It was likely to be a herding animal, so possibly large herds of these heavy dinosaurs may have been thundering around if spooked by predators on the floodplains," said Jeremy Lockwood, a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth.

The dinosaur belongs to a group of herbivorous dinosaurs known as iguanodontians, large, bulky creatures often described as the "cows of the Cretaceous period" by palaeontologists.

It was discovered by fossil hunter Nick Chase who sadly died of cancer just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The species is named after him.