 | |
 The outside of Dinosaur Isle | |
 | |
| Established | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | Sandown, Isle of Wight |
| Type | Paleontological |
| Visitors | 60,000+ |
| Curator | Martin Munt |
| Website | www |
Dinosaur Isle is a purpose-built dinosaur museum located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight in southern England. [1]
The museum was designed by Isle of Wight architect Rainey Petrie Johns in the shape of a giant pterosaur. [2] It claims to be the first custom-built dinosaur museum in Europe.
Throughout the 19th century, many collectors such as the Reverend William Fox (1813-1881) excavated the types of new dinosaur genera, including Aristosuchus , Hypsilophodon foxii , and Polacanthus . Most of the discoveries were then transferred to the mainland for study and exhibition, which after some time prompted the Isle of Wight Council to begin its own collection.
In 1923 the Isle of Wight's first geological museum opened in Sandown, under the name of the "Museum of Isle of Wight Geology". [3]
The £2.7 million cost of Dinosaur Isle, the new museum, was provided by Isle of Wight Council and the National Lottery Millennium Commission. [4] Dinosaur Isle opened to visitors on 10 August 2001. It currently houses 40,000 specimens, including nearly 200 types. The museum offers many field trips to discover the island's main palaeontological sites.
The visit to the museum begins with a presentation of the different past ecosystems that can be found in different parts of the island. This area begins with Pleistocene fossils, including those of Bison antiquus . The repaired animatronic of an Ophthalmosaurus from the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs is also in this section. The first Mesozoic animals are displayed outside of the main room, with a sauropod being displayed at the very end, and several exhibits dedicated to Mesozoic marine life.
The large central room is dedicated to dinosaurs. Many life-size replicas and models are found there, including ornithischians such as Iguanodon , Polacanthus and Hypsilophodon , in addition to saurischians like Eotyrannus . Additionally, a large allosauroid theropod, Neovenator salerii (discovered in 1978 and described by Steve Hutt [5] one of the curators of the museum) is also exhibited, as is a replica skeleton of Megalosaurus . The skeleton of the Iguanodon MIWG.5126 (or Pink Iggy) is particularly noteworthy among the museum's collection. It was discovered in 1976 by Steve Hutt, and is mostly articulated. It is named after the minerals in the matrix it was discovered in, which gave the rocks a pink colouration. The holotype of the small crocodyliform Koumpiodontosuchus is also displayed.
On one of the walls of the room, reconstructions of heads of different pterosaurs are displayed. Indeed, the museum houses the holotype of the ornithocheirid Caulkicephalus . [6]
Visitors to the museum are given the opportunity to speak to resident palaeontologists and watch them at work.
Iguanodon, named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species have been classified in the genus Iguanodon, dating from the late Jurassic Period to the early Cretaceous Period of Asia, Europe, and North America, taxonomic revision in the early 21st century has defined Iguanodon to be based on one well-substantiated species: I. bernissartensis, which lived from the late Barremian to the earliest Aptian ages in Belgium, Germany, England, Spain, and possibly elsewhere in Europe, between about 126 and 122 million years ago. Iguanodon were large, bulky herbivores. Distinctive features include large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defense against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food.
Hypsilophodon is an ornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this into question.
Hylaeosaurus is a herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived about 136 million years ago, in the late Valanginian stage of the early Cretaceous period of England.
The Isle of Wight is one of the richest dinosaur localities in Europe, with over 20 species of dinosaur having been recognised from the early Cretaceous Period, some of which were first identified on the island, as well as the contemporary non-dinosaurian species of crocodile, turtle and pterosaur.
Valdosaurus is a genus of bipedal herbivorous iguanodont ornithopod dinosaur found on the Isle of Wight and elsewhere in England, Spain and possibly also Romania. It lived during the Early Cretaceous.
Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek polys-/πολύς- "many" and akantha/ἄκανθα "thorn" or "prickle", is an early armoured, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaurian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period of England.
William D. Fox was an English clergyman and palaeontologist who worked on the Isle of Wight and made some significant discoveries of dinosaur fossils.
Neovenator (nee-o-ven-a-tor), which means "new hunter", is a genus of carcharodontosaurian dinosaur. At the time of its discovery on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, it was the best-known large carnivorous dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now Europe.
Eotyrannus is a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation beds, included in Wealden Group, located in the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The remains (MIWG1997.550), consisting of assorted skull, axial skeleton and appendicular skeleton elements, from a juvenile or subadult, found in a plant debris clay bed, were described by Hutt et al. in early 2001. The etymology of the generic name refers to the animals classification as an early tyrannosaur or "tyrant lizard", while the specific name honors the discoverer of the fossil.
Darren Naish is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author and science communicator. As a researcher, he is best known for his work describing and reevaluating dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles, including Eotyrannus, Xenoposeidon, and azhdarchid pterosaurs. Much of his research has focused on Wealden Group fossils from the Isle of Wight. He is founder of the vertebrate palaeozoology blog Tetrapod Zoology, and has written several popular science books. Naish also makes frequent media appearances and is a scientific consultant and advisor for film, television, museums and exhibitions. Naish is also known for his skepticism and work examining cryptozoology and sea monster sightings and beliefs from a scientific perspective.
Calamosaurus was a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. It is based on two cervical vertebrae, collected by Reverend William Fox.
Ornithodesmus is a genus of small, dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Isle of Wight in England, dating to about 125 million years ago. The name was originally assigned to a bird-like sacrum, initially believed to come from a bird and subsequently identified as a pterosaur. More complete pterosaur remains were later assigned to Ornithodesmus, until recently a detailed analysis determined that the original specimen in fact came from a small theropod, specifically a dromaeosaur. All pterosaurian material previously assigned to this genus has been renamed Istiodactylus.
Istiodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. The first fossil was discovered on the English Isle of Wight in 1887, and in 1901 became the holotype specimen of a new species, O. latidens, in the genus Ornithodesmus. This species was moved to its own genus, Istiodactylus, in 2001; this name is Greek for "sail finger". More specimens were described in 1913, and Istiodactylus was the only pterosaur known from three-dimensionally preserved fossils for much of the 20th century. In 2006, a species from China, I. sinensis, was assigned to Istiodactylus, but it has also been suggested to belong to a different genus.
The Wessex Formation is a fossil-rich English geological formation that dates from the Berriasian to Barremian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It forms part of the Wealden Group and underlies the younger Vectis Formation and overlies the Durlston Formation. The dominant lithology of this unit is mudstone with some interbedded sandstones. It is part of the strata of the Wessex Basin, exposed in both the Isle of Purbeck and the Isle of Wight. While the Purbeck sections are largely barren of vertebrate remains, the Isle of Wight sections are well known for producing the richest and most diverse fauna in Early Cretaceous Europe.
The Vectis Formation is a geological formation on the Isle of Wight and Swanage, England whose strata were formed in the lowermost Aptian, approximately 125 million years ago. The environment of deposition was that of a freshwater coastal lagoon with occasional marine influence after the early Aptian marine transgression, transitioning from the floodplain environment of the underlying Wessex Formation. The primary lithology is of laminated grey mudstones. The Vectis Formation is composed of three geological members: the Shepherds Chine member, the Barnes High Sandstone member, and the Cowleaze Chine member. It is overlain by the fully marine Atherfield Clay Formation, part of the Lower Greensand Group. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Vectidraco, is a genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England.
Horshamosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. It lived during the Barremian of the Cretaceous and the type species is Horshamosaurus rudgwickensis.
Ornithocheiromorpha is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, around 140 to 92.5 million years ago. Ornithocheiromorphs were discovered worldwide except Antarctica, though most genera were recovered in Europe, Asia and South America. They were the most diverse and successful pterosaurs during the Early Cretaceous, but throughout the Late Cretaceous they were replaced by better adapted and more advanced pterosaur species such the pteranodontids and azhdarchoids. The Ornithocheiromorpha was defined in 2014 by Andres and colleagues, and they made Ornithocheiromorpha the most inclusive clade containing Ornithocheirus, but not Pteranodon.
Wightia is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur recovered from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) aged Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight of England, from which it gets its name. The only species within this genus is W. declivirostris.
Brighstoneus is a genus of hadrosauriform dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. The genus contains a single species, Brighstoneus simmondsi, known from a partial skeleton.
