Sometimes scientific discoveries aren’t made in the field but in the quiet corners of museum drawers.
That’s exactly what happened in Wales, where paleontologists from the University of Bristol have officially identified a brand-new species of dinosaur—more than 125 years after its fossil was first reported.
The fossil in question comes from Triassic rock beds near Penarth in South Wales.
It was first described in 1899 and has been on display in the National Museum of Wales for decades. For years, scientists debated whether it even belonged to a dinosaur.
But thanks to modern technology, its true identity has finally been revealed.
The fossil consists not of bone, but of natural molds of a jawbone preserved in rock.
The original bone material has long since disappeared. To study it properly, paleontology student Owain Evans used advanced digital scanning to create a precise 3D reconstruction of the jaw.
By photographing the fossil from many angles and then digitally combining the images, the team was able to “rebuild” the bone virtually and analyze its features in detail.
“This specimen has been referred to many times, but no one was sure what it really was,” Evans explained. “Back in 1899, it was named Zanclodon cambrensis, but that genus was later abandoned.
We now know this was indeed a dinosaur, and we’ve given it a new name: Newtonsaurus, in honor of Edwin Tully Newton, the scientist who first described it.”
The study, published in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, reveals that Newtonsaurus was a theropod—a member of the group of predatory, flesh-eating dinosaurs that would later give rise to giants like T. rex.
The preserved portion of the jaw measures 28 centimeters, and researchers estimate the full jaw would have been about 60 centimeters long. That suggests the animal itself was around 5 to 7 meters in length—exceptionally large for the Triassic period, when most theropod dinosaurs were only half that size or smaller.
Senior author Professor Michael Benton emphasized how much detail was preserved in the fossil. “The molds show every groove, ridge, and serration on the teeth. Once we made a 3D model, we could finally see its anatomy clearly, and that confirmed it was a large theropod dinosaur.”
For museum curator Cindy Howells, the discovery highlights the importance of revisiting historical specimens.
“These fossils have been sitting in collections for over a century, but they can still reveal exciting new findings. The Triassic beds in Wales are rare worldwide, and there could be more undiscovered dinosaurs waiting in these rocks.”
With the re-description of Newtonsaurus cambrensis, Wales has once again secured its place on the paleontological map—proving that sometimes the biggest surprises come not from new digs, but from a fresh look at old treasures.
