Newly discovered dinosaur named after Surrey dad

A new species and genus of dinosaur has been named after a Surrey dad.

Paludohadros proudlovii - an iguanodontian - was named in honour of the late Will Proudlove, who managed the Ewhurst brick and roof tile works where the dinosaur was discovered.

Proudlove passed away at the age of 35, shortly before the dinosaur's fossil was found in 2001 and donated to the Natural History Museum.

His wife Rachel told BBC Radio Surrey there was a history of finding dinosaur remains where the father-of-two worked.

"He was quite fascinated by this," she said.

Each time a layer of clay was removed from the quarry, Will checked if there was anything that looked like dinosaur fossils, Rachel added.

Rachel said the dinosaur being named after Will - who worked his way up the ranks to become manager - was a "huge" honour.

"It's very exciting," she told the BBC. "It's a great legacy for my husband to be remembered by.

"[We're] absolutely thrilled."

The remains at the Ewhurst works belong to a member of the iguanodontians – a group of dinosaurs known for their thumb spikes, according to the Natural History Museum.

Historically, it added that iguanodontians found in southern England were considered to be either Iguanodon or its smaller relative, mantellisaurus.

However, a detailed redescription of the latter by Natural History Museum scientists in 2023 has allowed key differences to be identified.

This has led to several newly named iguanodontians in recent years, including brighstoneus, comptonatus, the sail-backed istiorachis and now paludohadros.

The four-legged herbivore lived around 125 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Period, the Natural History Museum said.

At the time, southern England would have been covered in muddy wetlands - helping give the dinosaur its name, as palus means swamp in Latin, it added.

At around five metres long and around 1.5 to two tonnes in weight, the paludohadros proudlovii would have been a similar size to a rhino when it died.

But the museum said it is likely this individual was a juvenile as its bones were underdeveloped, meaning it could have grown to twice as large.

The paludohadros would have lived alongside the baryonyx walkeri, a fearsome two-legged carnivore that was discovered at the Ewhurst Works in 1983.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, X, and Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Surrey on Sounds. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.