Dinosaur unearthed on Isle of Wight identified as new plant-eating species

Comptonatus chasei roamed island 125m years ago and is most complete dinosaur fossil found in UK in a century

A new species of large plant-eating dinosaur that roamed the Isle of Wight about 125m years ago has been identified.

The specimen, which has 149 bones in total, is the most complete dinosaur discovered in the UK in a century, researchers said.

Comptonatus chasei is named after the late fossil hunter Nick Chase and the place where it was found, the cliffs of Compton Bay. It weighed as much as an African elephant and belongs to a group of herbivorous dinosaurs known as iguanodontians, bulky creatures often described by palaeontologists as the cows of the Cretaceous period [145m-66m years ago]".

This really is a remarkable find," said Dr Jeremy Lockwood, a retired GP and scientific associate at the Natural History Museum, who helped with the dinosaur's excavation and spent years studying the bones of the skeleton.