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<\/a><\/p>\nThe two separate blocks containing the jaw impression of Newtonsaurus cambrensis. Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.1016\/j.pgeola.2025.101142.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis specimen has been referred to many times in scientific papers, but had yet to be successfully identified \u2014 we were not even sure whether it was dinosaur,\u201d said Dr. Owain Evans, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was named Zanclodon cambrensis by Edwin Tully Newton in 1899, but we knew the name Zanclodon had been abandoned as referring to a broad variety of early reptiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, we name it after Newton, calling it Newtonsaurus. It is different from all other dinosaurs from around that time, and requires a distinctive name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newtonsaurus cambrensis roamed our planet around 202 million years ago (latest Triassic period).<\/p>\n
The fossil was found at the locality of Stormy Down near Bridgend, Wales, the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The specimen is the natural mould of a left jaw, showing both the interior (housed at the National Museum of Wales) and exterior surfaces (housed at the British Geological Survey)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe natural moulds of the inner and outer faces of the jawbone show amazing detail \u2014 every groove, ridge, tooth, and even the serrations along the edges of the teeth,\u201d said University of Bristol\u2019s Professor Michael Benton.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to use digital photography to make a 3D model.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe began by surface scanning the fossil using photogrammetry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we had our digital scan, we then inverted it \u2014 essentially giving us a digital negative of the mould.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was then a simple case of fusing the two sides together and analyzing the anatomy from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe digital reconstruction we have extracted from the specimen gives a much better idea of what the original structure of the bone would have looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that the fossil could be studied, the team was able to use its anatomy to piece together its position in the reptile family tree \u2014 and most crucially \u2014 whether it was a dinosaur or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can now confirm that this specimen very likely belonged to a large predatory theropod dinosaur, that roamed the shores of South Wales during the latest Triassic,\u201d Dr. Evans said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has some definite unique dinosaur features in the emplacement of the teeth, and it is a theropod \u2014 a predatory, flesh-eating dinosaur.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise, it sits near the origins of both major divisions of Theropoda, the Coelophysoidea and the Averostra.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost unexpected is the size of the animal. The preserved jawbone is 28 cm long, and that is just the front half, so originally the jawbone was 60 cm long, corresponding to a dinosaur with a body length of 5-7 m.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unusually large for a Triassic theropod, most of which were half the size or smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese historical specimens are vitally important in paleontology and often yield new and exciting results \u2014 even if they have been sitting in collections for years,\u201d said Dr. Cindy Howells, a paleontologist at the National Museum Cardiff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Victorians were fascinated by the fossil record and prospected all across the UK for fossils.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of this, the re-description of Newtonsaurus cambrensis once again highlights the significance of Wales in paleontological research.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese Triassic beds are rare worldwide, and yet there are several across Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere might very well be another dinosaur waiting to be discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n