Overview

• The species description was formally published in Papers in Palaeontology, based on fossils reexamined from museum collections.
• Lead author Jeremy Lockwood identified unusually elongated neural spines after comparing the vertebrae with a curated database during his PhD work with the University of Portsmouth and the Natural History Museum.
• Holotype MIWG 6643, a partial skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation near Grange Chine, dates to about 125 million years ago.
• The team argues the sail was probably a visual or sexual signalling structure rather than primarily for thermoregulation or fat storage.
• Named in honor of Dame Ellen MacArthur, the find adds to the growing roster of iguanodontians on the Isle of Wight, which co-authors say has expanded markedly through recent archival studies.