Fossilized teeth highlight theropod dinosaur diversity in prehistoric East Sussex.

Dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex in the jungle
Photo Credit: Shutterstock

According to new research, a number of groups of meat eating dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs Velociraptors stalked the area that is today Bexhill on the Sea in East Sussex in England 135 million ago.

A spinosaur in the Early Cretaceous Floodplain of southeastern England 135 million year ago, to the dismay of smaller tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurids. Anthony Hutchings is the photographer.

Dr. Chris Barker is a Paleontologist from the University of Southampton. He said that meat-eating dinos are very rare in Cretaceous deposits of southern England. “Isle of Wight dinos usually get the most attention.”

There is less information about older Cretaceous fossils found on the mainland.

Dr. Barker’s research examined an assemblage theropods teeth collected mainly from Ashdown Brickworks near Bexhill in East Sussex. Theropods have complex teeth that vary in shape and size. They also differ in their serrated edge anatomy. They used phylogenetic methods, machine learning, and discriminant techniques.

Dinosaur teeth, which are hard fossils, are preserved much more often than bones. “They’re crucial for reconstructing the diversity of an eco-system,” said Dr. Barker. The teeth can be identified with great accuracy using rigorous methods.

Theropods teeth found in the Wadhurst Clay Formation. Scale bar – 10 mm.  This discovery is especially noteworthy, as tyrannosaurs have never been found in this region or age of sediments before. The tyrannosaurs were about a third the size of Tyrannosaurus Rex (19459005) and hunted other dinosaurs, including small ones in their habitat. Lucy Handford is a PhD student from the University of York. She said that assigning individual teeth to different theropod lineages can be difficult, as they evolve differently.

The University of Southampton’s Dr. Darren Naish said that the sediments in southern England are unique, both in their geological age, as well as the dinosaur fossils. These East Sussex dinosaurs, which are much older than the more well-known Cretaceous deposits of the Isle of Wight are mysterious, poorly understood and less known.

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