A newly-discovered dinosaur with an “eye-catching sail” alongside its again and tail is to be named after record-breaking yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur.
Istiorachis macaruthurae was recognized and named by Jeremy Lockwood, a PhD pupil on the College of Portsmouth and the Pure Historical past Museum.
Istiorachis means “sail backbone” and macaruthurae is taken from the surname of Dame Ellen, who grew to become well-known for setting a file for the quickest solo continuous round-the-world voyage in 2005.
Dame Ellen is from the Isle of Wight, the place the creature’s fossils have been discovered.
Jeremy Lockwood with the spinal column of the dinosaur. Pic: College of Portsmouth/PA
Lockwood stated the creature had notably lengthy neural spines. Pic: College of Portsmouth/PA
Earlier than Dr Lockwood analysed them, the fossils, which date again 125 million years, have been considered from one of many two recognized iguanodontian dinosaur species from the island.
“However this one had notably lengthy neural spines, which was very uncommon,” he stated.
Writing within the scientific journal Papers in Palaeontology, Dr Lockwood stated his research confirmed the dino would have most likely had a pronounced sail-like construction alongside its again.
The precise objective of such options “has lengthy been debated, with theories starting from physique warmth regulation to fats storage”.
On this case, researchers suppose it was almost definitely to be for “visible signalling, probably as a part of a sexual show”.
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Yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur in 2014. File pic: PA
For the research, the researchers in contrast the fossilised bones with a database of comparable dinosaur backbones which allowed them to see how these sail-like formations had developed.
Dr Lockwood stated his crew confirmed Istiorachis’s spines “weren’t simply tall, they have been extra exaggerated than is common in Iguanodon-like dinosaurs, which is precisely the type of trait you’d count on to evolve by way of sexual choice”.
Professor Susannah Maidment, of the Pure Historical past Museum, stated: “Jeremy’s cautious research of fossils which have been in museum collections for a number of years has dropped at life the iguandontian dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight.
“His work highlights the significance of collections like these at [Isle Of Wight museum] Dinosaur Isle, the place fossil specimens are preserved in perpetuity and will be studied and revised within the gentle of latest knowledge and new concepts about evolution.
“Over the previous 5 years, Jeremy has single-handedly quadrupled the recognized variety of the smaller iguanodontians on the Isle of Wight, and Istiorachis demonstrates we nonetheless have a lot to study Early Cretaceous ecosystems within the UK.”
