Tiny “Dragon” – A mysterious new species is the oldest carnivorous dinosaur found in the UK

The oldest known carnivorous dinosaur discovered in the UK was named after pioneering scientist Angela Milner, who died in August 2021.

The small, carnivorous dinosaur lived over 200 million years ago in what is now Wales. Discovered in a quarry in the 1950s, it was initially thought to be part of a completely different group of dinosaurs, but scientists have now realized that it represents an entirely new species, Pendraig milnerae.

Her name honors both her Welsh origins and Angela Milner, a paleontologist at the Museum who was the driving force behind her dinosaur gallery and who herself named a variety of new species.

As well as being a leader in the field for decades, the name also reflects Angela’s help in moving the dinosaur after it has been missing from the museum for many years.

Dr Susannah Maidment, senior palaeobiology researcher at the Museum who studied with Angela, said, “I told her I couldn’t find it, so she left and about three hours later she got it.

“She found it in a crocodile drawer, and she must have had the specimen in mind from the moment she had ever looked at it.” This paper would not have been possible without her.

The new species was described in the review Royal Society Open Science.

Missing in action

The new species has a mysterious past, having been lost, found and renamed over the past 40 years.

It was originally discovered at Pant-y-ffynnon in South Wales, in a type of deposit known as fissure fill. This is where the remains fall into crevices before being covered and fossilized.

Over the years, these fissure fillings have provided a variety of fossils dating from the Trias Period, giving researchers insight into the evolutionary history of mammals, crocodiles, and dinosaurs.

In 1952, a few bones of the dinosaur, including parts of the back, legs and hips, were discovered in one of the cracks. While there wasn’t much to do, the researchers were able to discern that the animal was likely a coelophysoid. It was a smaller carnivorous dinosaur with a long, narrow muzzle, common in the late Triassic and early Jurassic.

The species is the oldest known theropod dinosaur in the UK and represents a major advance in our understanding of the early evolution of European dinosaurs.

Museum researcher and lead author Dr Stephan Spiekman says, “There is no obvious character that sets this species apart. He has a certain combination of several characters that are unique in his group, which has shown us that this is clearly a new species.

It is believed that the small size of P. milnerae maybe because the bones come from a juvenile. The adult animal may have grown larger than the specimen found in Wales, but due to the fossilization process this cannot be confirmed.

This is further complicated by its presumed habitat, which would have been an island archipelago. The species living on the islands often become smaller due to the reduced resources available to them, as well as the lack of larger predators. This shrinkage is a process known as island dwarfism.

For this reason, there has been a lot of uncertainty around the exact identity of the dinosaur.

Fossils of juvenile animals often do not exhibit all of the distinguishing features that distinguish one species from another. In the case of this dinosaur, this has caused a lot of confusion over the years, with scientists in the 1990s initially describing it as a species of Syntarse.

However, this name was dropped soon after scientists decided that the Syntarse the species were in fact related to other groups and reassigned them, so further study was needed.

But when the scientists went to get the bones to reassess them following the changes, the remains weren’t where the researchers thought they were. Hunting for bones would require the help of a paleontological expert and museum alumnus, so researchers turned to Dr. Angela Milner.

‘Blimey claw’

Angela was an influential figure in paleontology during and after her four-decade career. She was a specialist in tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates), including mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

In 1976, she joined the Museum as a curator and began to expand her research to a range of dinosaurs. In 1983, she and her fellow paleontologist Alan Charig officially described the discovery Baryonyx walkeri, a large, carnivorous dinosaur whose distinctive giant hand claw led to the title “Claw blimey!” A new dinosaur! ‘ in the newspaper Le Soleil.

In addition to the new research she’s conducted, Angela’s years at the Museum have given her an in-depth understanding of how best to educate the public about dinosaurs. She was instrumental in the development of the museum’s dinosaur gallery, showcasing many iconic species, some of which she was involved in nominating.

Angela’s work in many areas of the Museum has proven to be an inspiration to those who have worked with her.

Susannah says: “Angela has been very important at the museum for many years. She was not only the first dinosaur researcher, but she also held a leadership position when women didn’t have those roles in the museum, so for me as a student that was really important.

“She really inspired me and was an incredible help when I joined the Museum. She went out of her way to show me the ropes, and that goes for me and so many others, including three of us on this paper.

The species was named in honor of Angela, joining a number of other species, such as Veterupristisaurus milneri, which also bear his name. This includes a species of spinosaurid dinosaur, Riparovenator milnerae, which was recently named after her.

Researchers now hope to deepen the lives of P. milnerae and the wildlife he encountered, to prove whether his size was the result of island habitation.

Reference: “Pendraig milnerae, a new small coelophysoid theropod from the Upper Triassic of Wales ”by Stephan NF Spiekman, Martín D. Ezcurra, Richard J. Butler, Nicholas C. Fraser and Susannah CR Maidment, October 6, 2021, Royal Society Open Science.
DOI: 10.1098 / rsos.210915