Dinocochlea ingens is a trace fossil specimen held in the Natural History Museum of London. It is a symmetrical helicospiral several metres in length that was famously unexplained until shown in 2009 to be a concretion formed around the burrow of a worm. [1]
Found in 1921 in the Wealden area of Sussex in England during construction of an arterial road, Dinocochlea was originally presumed to be a fossilised gastropod shell. As such, it was given a Latin name that translates to "giant terrible snail" using the "dino-" prefix in a nod to Dinosaur ("terrible lizard") and refers to the nearby, paleontologically significant, quarry that featured many dinosaur fossils, the " Iguanodon Necropolis". [2] This name also gave rise to a second theory on the origin of the object - that it is a coprolite (fossilized animal dung). The gastropod theory is now considered incorrect on the basis that there were no shell traces, nor many of the features usually found in gastropod shells such as ridges, and coils tapering to a point. Furthermore, the size of Dinocochlea is much larger than any other gastropod living or extinct. The coprolite theory is also considered incorrect on the basis that partially digested organic material which would normally remain in the dung was not present. Also, whilst dung can be formed in a spiral (notably sharks due to their digestive system's spiral valve), the consistency of Dinocochlea makes this unlikely.
Dinocochlea was donated to the British Museum (Natural History) (as it was known at the time, until the Natural History Museum's separation from the British Museum). However, in 1947 the Geologists' Association argued that the specimen was "...taken from the excavations without permission". [3] Dinocochlea was featured in the final episode of the 2010 BBC series Museum of Life which documented the work of the Natural History Museum. [4]
William Buckland DD, FRS was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist.
A coprolite is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour rather than morphology. The name is derived from the Greek words κόπρος and λίθος. They were first described by William Buckland in 1829. Prior to this they were known as "fossil fir cones" and "bezoar stones". They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms. Coprolites may range in size from a few millimetres to over 60 centimetres.
Hypsilophodon is a neornithischian 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.
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.
Altispinax is a genus of large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now the Wadhurst Clay Formation of East Sussex, England.
Yaverlandia is a genus of maniraptoran dinosaur. Known from a partial fossil skull found in Lower Cretaceous strata of the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight, it was described as the earliest known member of the pachycephalosaurid family, but research by Darren Naish shows it to have actually been a theropod, seemingly a maniraptoran. Yaverlandia was named from where it was found, Yaverland Point/ Yaverland Battery. It was about 3 ft (1 m) in length and 1 ft (30 cm) in height. The type species is Yaverlandia bitholus.
Aristosuchus is a genus of small coelurosaurian dinosaur whose name was derived from the Greek ἄριστος and σουχος. It shared many characteristics with birds.
Calamospondylus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
Valdoraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils were found in England. It is known only from bones of the feet. The holotype, BMNH R2559, was found near Cuckfield in layers of the Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation dating from the late Valanginian. The specimen is damaged lacking parts of the upper and lower ends. It has a conserved length of 215 millimetres (8.5 in) and an estimated length of 240 millimetres (9.4 in). This genus is paleontologically significant for being the first ornithomimosaur specimen known from England and represents the earliest record of ornithomimosaurs.
Ornithopsis was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei.
Dromaeosauroides is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Denmark. It was discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the Robbedale valley, on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. This is the only likely place for dinosaur remains to be discovered on Danish territory, since the Mesozoic deposits exposed in the rest of the country are marine. Dromaeosauroides is the first known dinosaur from this location, and the only one which has been scientifically named. It is one of the oldest known dromaeosaurs in the world, and the first known uncontested dromaeosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Europe.
Mantellisaurus is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur that lived in the Barremian and early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous Period of Europe. Its remains are known from Belgium (Bernissart), England, Spain and Germany. The type and only species is M. atherfieldensis. Formerly known as Iguanodon atherfieldensis, the new genus Mantellisaurus was erected for the species by Gregory Paul in 2007. According to Paul, Mantellisaurus was more lightly built than Iguanodon and more closely related to Ouranosaurus, making Iguanodon in its traditional sense paraphyletic. It is known from many complete and almost complete skeletons. The genus name honours Gideon Mantell, the discoverer of Iguanodon.
The history of paleontology traces the history of the effort to understand the history of life on Earth by studying the fossil record left behind by living organisms. Since it is concerned with understanding living organisms of the past, paleontology can be considered to be a field of biology, but its historical development has been closely tied to geology and the effort to understand the history of Earth itself.
Suchosaurus is a spinosaurid dinosaur from Cretaceous England and Portugal, originally believed to be a genus of crocodile. The type material, consisting of teeth, was used by British palaeontologist Richard Owen to name the species S. cultridens in 1841. Later in 1897, French palaeontologist Henri-Émile Sauvage named a second species, S. girardi, based on two fragments from the mandible and one tooth discovered in Portugal. Suchosaurus is possibly a senior synonym of the contemporary spinosaurid Baryonyx, but is usually considered a dubious name due to the paucity of its remains, and is considered an indeterminate baryonychine. In the Wadhurst Clay Formation of what is now southern England, Suchosaurus lived alongside other dinosaurs, as well as plesiosaurs, mammals, and crocodyliforms.
Samuel Husbands Beckles was a Bajan/English 19th-century lawyer, turned dinosaur hunter, who collected remains in Sussex and the Isle of Wight. In 1854 he described bird-like trackways that he thought could have been made by dinosaurs, which he later identified as probably those of Iguanodon in 1862. In 1857, following the discovery of a mammal jaw at Durlston Bay, he directed a major excavation that became known as 'Beckles' Pit', removing five metres of overburden over a 600 square metre area, one of the largest ever scientific excavations. The collection of mammal fossils that resulted is now mainly held at the Natural History Museum. He discovered the small herbivorous dinosaur Echinodon. The only known species Echinodon becklesii, the mammal Plagiaulax becklesii and the dinosaur Becklespinax were named in his honour.
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.
Paleontology in New Mexico refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of New Mexico. The fossil record of New Mexico is exceptionally complete and spans almost the entire stratigraphic column. More than 3,300 different kinds of fossil organisms have been found in the state. Of these more than 700 of these were new to science and more than 100 of those were type species for new genera. During the early Paleozoic, southern and western New Mexico were submerged by a warm shallow sea that would come to be home to creatures including brachiopods, bryozoans, cartilaginous fishes, corals, graptolites, nautiloids, placoderms, and trilobites. During the Ordovician the state was home to algal reefs up to 300 feet high. During the Carboniferous, a richly vegetated island chain emerged from the local sea. Coral reefs formed in the state's seas while terrestrial regions of the state dried and were home to sand dunes. Local wildlife included Edaphosaurus, Ophiacodon, and Sphenacodon.
Haestasaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, belonging to the Macronaria, that during the Early Cretaceous lived in the area of present-day England. The only species is Haestasaurus becklesii.