Re: Isle of Wight fossil announcement

[Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)]

>The Britsh press reported the excavation of a major fossil find 
>from the Isle of Wight (The Guardian, 6.4.94) - two partial
>skeletons (making up a complete skeleton) of a Polacanthus dated
>at 115 my, measuring 12 x 5 feet.  Local expert Martin Simpson 
>commented "This will rewrite the dinosaur books. All the previous
>restorations of this animal are based on incomplete material."
>

This should be interesting.  As many of you may already know, Jim Kirkland
at Dinamation has found several Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous fossils
of "polacanthids", which show them to be tail-clubbed and triangular headed,
as well as possessing sacral shields.  This strongly suggests that they are
not members of Nodosauridae, but are instead the sister-group to
Ankylosauridae.

>

Thomas R. HOLTZ
Vertebrate Paleontologist, Dept. of Geology
Email:Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)
Phone:301-405-4084