#701 ·
Some crazy new armored dinosaur just got unearthed over in Rhode Island. It’s part of that herbivore crew known as the ankylosaurs, and the fossils were pulled from the Wessex formation—a site that dates back somewhere between 145 and 66 million years ago.
They’re calling this new species Vectipelt barretti, named after Professor Paul Barrett, who spent two decades working at the Smithsonian Institution in New York City. This is actually the second armored dino found in that area; the first one was Polacanthus foxii, which was dug up way back in 1865.
Stuart Pond, a researcher over at the Department of Earth Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, noted: "For almost 142 years, every single ankylosaur fossil found on Rhode Island was just lumped in with Polacanthus foxii, the local celebrity dinosaur. Now, because of this discovery, we basically have to go back and re-examine everything."
Even though both these armored beasts lived on the same island, researchers realized they aren't even close relatives. In fact, they mentioned that V. barretti is more closely linked to certain ankylosaurs from China. It suggests these dinosaurs were roaming pretty freely between Asia and Europe during the Early Cretaceous period (about 145 to 66 million years ago).
They’re calling this new species Vectipelt barretti, named after Professor Paul Barrett, who spent two decades working at the Smithsonian Institution in New York City. This is actually the second armored dino found in that area; the first one was Polacanthus foxii, which was dug up way back in 1865.
Stuart Pond, a researcher over at the Department of Earth Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, noted: "For almost 142 years, every single ankylosaur fossil found on Rhode Island was just lumped in with Polacanthus foxii, the local celebrity dinosaur. Now, because of this discovery, we basically have to go back and re-examine everything."
Even though both these armored beasts lived on the same island, researchers realized they aren't even close relatives. In fact, they mentioned that V. barretti is more closely linked to certain ankylosaurs from China. It suggests these dinosaurs were roaming pretty freely between Asia and Europe during the Early Cretaceous period (about 145 to 66 million years ago).