‘Horned Crocodile-Faced Hell Heron’ Dinosaur Discovered

ISLE OF WIGHT, U.K. — Dinosaur bones found on the Isle of Wight belong to two different species of spinosaurids that have never been discovered before, according to a study by palaeontologists at the University of Southampton.

Both species are closely related to the giant Spinosaurus, and it’s believed their crocodile-like skulls allowed them to hunt for prey on both land and in water 125 million years ago.

One of the two species has been named Riparovenator milnerae, while the other has been named Ceratosuchops inferodios, which translates to “horned crocodile-faced hell heron.[u][v][w]” That nod towards herons reflects the manner in which these dinosaurs would, like herons, have caught aquatic prey from around the edges of waterways and had a diet that would also have included terrestrial prey.

The researchers estimate that both Ceratosuchops and Riparovenator were about nine meters in length, with their skulls alone a meter long.

They also suggest that spinosaurids like these might have first evolved in Europe, before dispersing into Asia, Africa and South America.