When a new dinosaur species is announced, we all probably share a similar image of how it was discovered: a team of sweaty paleontologists, meticulously removing layers of dirt to uncover a skeleton. While that kind of fieldwork still happens, plenty of dinosaurs are “discovered” in museum collections. Instead of waiting to be unearthed, these already excavated specimens have been waiting for the right PhD candidate to come along, agonizingly study them, and then document the details.
The latest species of dinosaur—an iguanodon relative described for the first time in a study published today—took the latter path, but with a twist. The specimen was discovered in the site of the Ewhurst brick and roof tile works, a clay quarry in Surrey, England, and the researchers recognized the team that did some actual digging. The species name, Paludohadros proudlovii, honors Will Proudlove, a beloved former manager at the quarry who passed away at the age of 35.
Read more: “How Crocodiles Survived the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs”
Proudlove’s dinosaur namesake is one of several iguanodontians identified in southern England over the past few years after a detailed analysis of one of two major groups (mantellisaurus) was published in 2023. Like its iguanodon relatives, the newly described dinosaur had characteristic thumbspikes and ate only plants. According to the team, the over 16-foot-long dinosaur weighed in at around 3,300-4,400 pounds, and its bones were still forming, indicating it may have been a juvenile. An adult might have been twice as big as the rhino-sized specimen unearthed, the team says.
Its genus name comes from the Latin for swamp as a nod to the marsh-like environment that covered England around 125 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. And while P. proudlovii dined on wetland plants, there were other dinosaurs dining on it. According to the team, the remains of a Baryonyx walkeri, a type of spinosaur, was unearthed from the same quarry harboring a grim surprise.
“Paludohadros was found just 100 meters away from Baryonyx, whose fossils we also look after at the Natural History Museum,” study author Susannah Maidment of the Natural History Museum, London said in a statement. “While Baryonyx is best known for eating fish, this dinosaur’s last meal also included a baby iguanodontian.”
It’s unclear what species the spinosaur’s dinner belonged to, but it’s safe to say P. proudlovii may have munched while glancing over its shoulder.
Finally, if you’re wondering what discoveries await in the rest of the museum’s collections, help is on the way. “I’m now going to go through the Natural History Museum’s iguanodontian collections to identify what’s there as part of my PhD,” study author Ricardo Sacamoto said. “This could lead to the discovery of more new dinosaur species that haven’t yet been recognized.”
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Lead Image: Guilherme Gehr