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. <br /> <br /> <br />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. <br /> <br /> <br />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]” <br /> <br /> <br />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. <br /> <br /> <br />The researchers estimate that both Ceratosuchops and Riparovenator were about nine meters in length, with their skulls alone a meter long. <br /> <br /> <br />They also suggest that spinosaurids like these might have first evolved in Europe, before dispersing into Asia, Africa and South America. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
