Dinosaur teeth discovered by a now retired quarryman have revealed a community of prehistoric predators that lived around 135 million years ago in an "exciting" discovery.

Paleontologists examined five fossilized theropod teeth for a study and found that they represented members of different dinosaur groups, including tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs and dromaeosaurs, which include velociraptors and related animals. Theropods are a highly diverse group of bipedal, mostly carnivorous dinosaurs that include giant predators like Tyrannosaurus rex as well as the small ancestors of modern birds.

The fossil teeth that were the subject of the latest study, published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology, all originate from the Bexhill-on-Sea region in southeast England, namely a site called Pevensey Pit at Ashdown Brickworks.

Four of these teeth, now kept in a museum, were uncovered by quarryman Dave Brockhurst, who has collected thousands of fossil specimens of various prehistoric animals from the Ashdown Brickworks over the past three decades or so. Theropod remains at this site appear to be exceptionally rare, with Brockhurst having found only around 10 specimens to date. The latest study represents the first time that tyrannosaurs have been identified in deposits of this age in the region, according to the researchers.

Study lead author Christopher Barker, a visiting researcher at the U.K.'s University of Southampton, told Newsweek: "Theropods are rare in sediments from this region and time, making these specimens valuable and of scientific importance, and we wanted to figure which species were present to begin to reconstruct the ecosystem structure and compare it to better-known areas from elsewhere in the United Kingdom."

For the study, the paleontologists examined the fossil teeth-which date to the Early Cretaceous period (roughly 145 million to 100.5 million years ago)-and conducted an analysis of them in an attempt to identify the types of theropods the specimens represent.

Barker said: "Our main results are as follows: We have a better understanding of the types of carnivorous dinosaurs from a poorly known part of the British Cretaceous; we show that these dinosaurs represent members of the spinosaur, dromaeosaur and tyrannosaur families; and the discovery of tyrannosaurs is exciting, as these have not been discovered from this region or time in the United Kingdom."

He went on: "These specimens are significant for understanding of theropod diversity in the U.K. and are also important given that dinosaurs from this time are generally rare globally. This work also helps us begin to understand how British dinosaur faunas evolved over time."

Tyrannosaurs were a group of theropod dinosaurs known for their robust skulls, powerful jaws and reduced forelimbs. By the Late Cretaceous (roughly 100.5 million to 66 million years ago), they had evolved into massive apex predators such as T. rex, although earlier, smaller species existed in the Late Jurassic (roughly 163 million to 145 million years ago) and Early Cretaceous periods.

Spinosaurs, meanwhile, were theropods characterized by long, crocodile-like snouts and a distinctive sail on their backs. They lived during the Early to Late Cretaceous period, with some members adapted to semi-aquatic living.

Dromaeosaurs, such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus, were smaller, agile predators with sickle-shaped claws on their hind feet, sharp teeth and evidence of feathers.

Dinosaur teeth tend to be preserved more frequently than bone. Therefore, such fossils often serve as important evidence for researchers trying to reconstruct the diversity of a given prehistoric ecosystem.

The tyrannosaurs identified at Bexhill-on-Sea would likely have been around a third of the size of their iconic relative, T. rex, and probably hunted small dinosaurs and other reptiles, according to the researchers.

"We've hoped for decades to find out which theropod groups lived here, so the conclusions of our new study are really exciting," study co-author Darren Naish said in a press release.

"Southern England has an exceptionally good record of Cretaceous dinosaurs, and various sediment layers here are globally unique in terms of geological age and the fossils they contain," Naish said.

Study supervisor Neil Gostling, who is also from the University of Southampton, told Newsweek: "Even 200 years after naming Megalosaurus, the first dinosaur scientifically described, we are still finding more dinosaurs.

"There seems to be no slowing down of the average of one new species a week, and indeed, as we have done, going into collections is revealing even more diversity than we thought we had," he said.

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Reference

Barker, C. T., Handford, L., Naish, D., Wills, S., Hendrickx, C., Hadland, P., Brockhurst, D., Gostling, N. J. (2024). Theropod dinosaur diversity of the lower English Wealden: analysis of a tooth-based fauna from the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous: Valanginian) via phylogenetic, discriminant and machine learning methods. Papers in Palaeontology. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1604

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