New dinosaur species found on the Isle of Wight
A new species has been found with a spine that was likely used to attract mates
Last updated 22nd Aug 2025
A new dinosaur species has been found on the Isle of Wight.
The Istiorachis Macartuthurae, named after famous Isle of Wight sailor, Dame Ellen MacArthur because of its sail, was discovered from fossils on the Isle of Wight.
Dr Jeremy Lockwood discovered the new species as part of his PhD studies at the University of Portsmouth and the Natural History Museum, after noticing unusual vertebra.
He said: "We've found actually 10 new dinosaurs in the last six years on the Isle of Wight which is more than I think anywhere else on the planet, certainly in that size of area.
"So, we're really excited about what's known as the Wessex Formation, an early Cretaceous Big River floodplain from about 125 million years ago.
"We're starting to find tremendous diversity in here for what was thought to be just a few animals pottering around for millions of years.
"It's really exciting to add a new member to this family."
The sail on the back of the dinosaur is thought to have been to attract members of the species to mate.
He told us how he discovered this dinosaur belonged to a new species.
He said: "The neck vertebra was unusual and maybe had a very S shaped neck that needed strong ligaments, and there were other unusual features about one of the vertebra we were looking at.
"That was very exciting because not only had we got this unusual dinosaur with a torn neural spine, there were features about it that are not seen on any other iguanodontian dinosaur.
"That's a dream for a palaeontologist because now we've got some really good evidence to put forwards."