Updated

Updated · The Natural History Museum · Oct 27

Paludohadros Discovery Adds 5-Meter UK Dinosaur, Honoring Brickworks Manager Will Proudlove

Updated

Updated · The Natural History Museum · Oct 27

Paludohadros Discovery Adds 5-Meter UK Dinosaur, Honoring Brickworks Manager Will Proudlove

Q: Did Baryonyx prey on young Paludohadros, linking Britain’s newest dinosaur to one of its most famous predators?

Possibly, but there is no proof that Baryonyx specifically preyed on young Paludohadros. What researchers can say is that the two dinosaurs clearly shared the same Early Cretaceous wetland ecosystem in what is now Surrey. Paludohadros proudlovii was found in the Weald Clay Formation at Smokejacks Brickworks, about 100 meters from the famous Baryonyx walkeri site, and both date to roughly 125 million years ago. The strongest evidence for a link is indirect. A Baryonyx specimen from the same area preserved the remains of a baby iguanodontian in its stomach. Since Paludohadros is a newly identified iguanodontian from that very site, scientists say it is plausible that Baryonyx may have hunted or scavenged young Paludohadros, or a very close relative. But paleontologists are careful not to overstate it. As senior author Susannah Maidment noted, the stomach contents cannot be identified to species level, so researchers cannot confirm that the prey animal was Paludohadros itself. It could have been another juvenile iguanodontian from the same fauna. So the discovery does create a credible ecological link between Britain’s newest named dinosaur and one of its most famous predators. Yet for now, it remains a well-supported possibility rather than a demonstrated predator-prey match.

3 articles · Updated · The Natural History Museum · Oct 27

Natural History Museum researchers identified Paludohadros proudlovii from fossil collections, adding a new iguanodontian dinosaur from southern England.
The species was named for Will Proudlove, former manager of the Ewhurst brick and roof tile works in Surrey, who died shortly before the fossil was excavated.
The partial skeleton was unearthed in 2001 at the brickworks; scientists say the plant-eater was about 5 meters long, weighed 1.5 to 2 tons and lived roughly 125 million years ago.
The find, published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, is the first iguanodontian named from the Weald Clay Formation and came from the same broader area where Baryonyx was first discovered.