An extremely rare dinosaur skeleton believed to date back 132 million years has been discovered at a brick factory.
The fossilised remains, thought to be nearly complete, were uncovered during a routine visit to the quarry earlier this year.
Palaeontologists found the first signs of possible bones while examining an overturned rock, before realising the true scale of their discovery.
The creature, nicknamed Indie, is thought to be an Iguanodon – a herbivore which could grow to 12 meters (39 feet) long and run at 14mph.
Palaeontologists have discovered the fossilised skeleton (pictured) of a dinosaur, believed to date back 132 million years, at a brick quarry. The creature, named Indie by it’s discoverers, is thought to be an Iguanodon
THE IGUANADON
Experts from Fossils Galore, a museum in Cambridgeshire, believe they have uncovered an almost complete skeleton of an Iguanodon.
The fossilised remains were found during a routine visit to a brick factory’s quarry earlier this year.
The Iguanodon was an herbivore that walked the earth 132 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous period.
It would have been 10 feet (three metres) tall, 30 feet (10 metres) long and weighed 4.5 tons, the equivalent of an African Elephant.
It would have been prey for one of England’s biggest predators, Baryonyx, a relative of Spinosaurus.
Jamie Jordan is a self-taught dinosaur expert and the founder of Fossils Galore, a museum based in the market town of March, in Cambridgeshire.
He and his colleague Sarah Moore discovered a block of compacted clay that had formed a hard boulder at the Wienerberger factory in Ewhurst, Surrey.
After splitting it open, they discovered layers of bones that led them to believe there was more to find.
The excavation process, which began in February, took four weeks in total.
By the end of the process, the team had excavated seven blocks full of bones from the quarry to be cleaned, analysed and preserved.
A group of volunteers aided in extracting the blocks where the bones were buried, to get them ready for transportation back to Fossils Galore.
Upon closer examination, it was confirmed that the bones were the remains of a type of Ornithopod, a plant eating dinosaur.
In a written statement, Mr Jordan said: ‘Indie was hidden inside huge compacted clay blocks and was on a slope, making the process difficult at times.
Jamie Jordan is a self-taught dinosaur expert and the founder of Fossils Galore, a museum based in Cambridgeshire. He and his colleague Sarah Moore (both pictured) made the discovery
The pair found a block of compacted clay that had formed a hard boulder at the Wienerberger factory in Ewhurst, Surrey. After splitting it open, they discovered layers of bones that lead them to believe there was more to find (pictured)
The excavation process, which began in February, took four weeks in total. By the end of the process, the team had excavated seven blocks full of bones (pictured) from the quarry to be cleaned, analysed and preserved
‘However, due to the hard work of the Fossils Galore volunteers, we were able to extract and transport the remains to our preparation lab where we continue to work on her today.
‘We’re truly excited about what these findings can tell us about our history.’
The Iguanodon was an herbivore that walked the earth 132 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous period.
It would have been 10 feet (three metres) tall, 30 feet (10 metres) long and weighed 4.5 tons, the equivalent of an African Elephant.
The Fossils Galore centre is continuing to work on the blocks in their preparation laboratory (pictured) to expose more bones and piece them together
Indie is now on display for the public to view as experts continue to uncover more of the skeleton, whilst answering questions about how the creature would have lived
The Iguanodon was an herbivore that walked the earth 132 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous period. It would have been 10 feet (three metres) tall, 30 feet (10 metres) long and weighed 4.5 tons, the equivalent of an African Elephant
It would have been prey for one of England’s biggest predators, Baryonyx, a relative of Spinosaurus.
The Fossils Galore centre is continuing to work on the blocks in their preparation laboratory to expose more bones and piece them together.
Indie is now on display for the public to view as experts continue to uncover more of the skeleton, whilst answering questions about how the creature would have lived
The centre also has a living fossil plant display, which allows people to see the sort of things Indie would have eaten.
The Iguanodon (artist’s impression) would have been prey for one of England’s biggest predators, Baryonyx, a relative of Spinosaurus
The fossilised remains were found at the Wienerberger brick factory and quarry in Ewhurst, Surrey (pictured)