Researchers from the University of Bath in Britain have identified a new, small herbivorous dinosaur on the Isle of Wight in southern England. This finding has sparked discussion that Europe hosted its own lineage of tiny lizards, distinct from relatives found in Asia and North America. The study has been published in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.
The newly described species was named Vectidromeus insularis, marking it as the second known representative of the Hypsilophodont family. Hypsilophodonts were an agile, bipedal group of plant-eaters that roamed Earth roughly 125 million years ago. The fossil evidence shows that the creature lived at a size comparable to a modern chicken, though researchers acknowledge they are examining a juvenile individual, which leaves room for growth estimates and adult proportions to be refined by future finds.
Leading the research, Dr. Nicholas Longrich noted that the Isle of Wight specimen displays clear differences from hypsilophodont remains unearthed in North America, Asia, and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. These distinctions could reflect regional variation in the European dinosaur fauna during the Early Cretaceous, a time when ecosystems across the supercontinent Pangea were breaking apart and continents drifted toward their modern positions.
Paleontologists emphasize that the geographic distribution of ancient lizards after Pangea’s breakup is not fully resolved. The landmasses split into isolated regions, and as populations drifted apart, evolutionary paths diverged. This isolation helps explain why European hypsilophodonts might have harbored distinctive traits compared with their cousins elsewhere, even when they shared a common ancestry.
In related discussions, researchers have considered older hypotheses about large predatory animals that could have inhabited regions such as Brazil long before the rise of the known dinosaur record. While the timeline and nature of these early predators remain topics of ongoing inquiry, the current findings about Vectidromeus insularis contribute to a broader understanding of how regional dinosaur communities formed and evolved during the Early Cretaceous period.