Armoured dinosaur discovered on Isle of Wight ‘for first time in 142 years’

The new species has been named Vectipelta barretti

An artist’s impression of Vectipelta barretti (Stuart Pond/Natural History Musrum)

A new species of dinosaur with an armoured body has been discovered on the Isle of Wight for the first time in 142 years.

Belonging to a group of plant-eating dinosaurs known as ankylosaur, its remains were found in the island’s Wessex Formation – a fossil site dating back to somewhere between 145 to 66 million years ago.