BRITAIN was one of the world’s original Jurassic Parks, according to the first attempted “census” of the country’s dinosaurs. Researchers have identified 108 species found since the first discovery was named in 1824 and believe that the variety of creatures make Britain an important area for dinosaur remains.

The high concentration of species may have been the result of Britain’s position as a land bridge during the Cretaceous period 140m years ago. Dinosaurs spread along it between the land masses which are now Europe and North America.

“We’re probably in the top five places in the world for concentrations of dinosaurs,” said Darren Naish, a vertebrate palaeontologist at Portsmouth University and one of the researchers who carried out the study.

“We’ve got large numbers of Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous period species, including long-necked dinosaurs and predators such as spinosaurs and velociraptors.”

The review, which has taken three years and is published in the Journal of the Geological Society, documents every known species and genus of dinosaur known to have lived in Britain from 200m to 65m years ago. The scientists admit that the number of species found may partly be explained by the long-standing popularity of dinosaur fossil hunting.

“People in Britain have been finding dinosaur fossils for longer than anywhere else but we have an exceptionally large number here,” said Naish.

Bones are known to have been dug up in the 17th century, but were then thought to belong to extinct animals. They were not properly studied until the 19th century. The first dinosaur was categorised as such in 1824 when William Buckland, a geologist, gave the name megalosaurus to a skeleton unearthed in a quarry at Stones-field, Oxfordshire, in 1819.

In the years since then, experts have excavated everything from jaw bones to dinosaur egg shells at sites ranging from the Scottish Highlands and islands to the south coast of England. The most productive areas include Oxfordshire, the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, Dorset and the shore near Bristol.

Some of the country’s best preserved specimens have been found in coastal areas and in quarries, where layers of rock are newly exposed. The most complete remains include a scelidosaurus found in 1860 in the Black Ven cliffs near Lyme Regis, Dorset, on what has come to be known as the “jurassic coast”.

According to the report, Britain’s indigenous species include stegosaurs, which had distinctive armour plates, as well as predatory theropods and vegetarian sauropods.

Mike Benton, professor of vertebrate palaeontology at Bristol University, was cautious about singling out Britain as an exceptional dinosaur location: “The UK has produced the oldest fossils of a few dinosaur groups . . . but who knows what might come out of China or Africa in the next decades?”

Full list of dinosaurs found in Britain from Portsmouth University census

Dinosaur species

All entries follow this format: Dinosaur name; Scientist who named it; Date named

Saltopus elginensis
Huene, 1910

Agnosphitys cromhallensis
Fraser, 2002

Thecospondylus horneri
Seeley, 1882

Thecodontosaurus antiquus
Morris, 1843

Agrosaurus macgillivrayi
Seeley, 1891

Thecodontosaurus caducus
Yates, 2003

Gresslyosaurus ingens
Rütimeyer, 1856

Camelotia borealis
Galton, 1985

Cetiosaurus oxoniensis
Phillips, 1871

Cetiosaurus brevi
Owen,1842

Cetiosaurus glymptonensis
Phillips, 1871

Cetiosaurus humerocristatus
Hulke, 1874

Cetiosaurus longus
Owen, 1842

Cetiosaurus medius
Owen, 1842

Cetiosaurus hypoolithicus
Owen, 1842

Cetiosaurus epioolithicus
Owen, 1842

Cetiosaurus giganteus
Owen, 1870

Cardiodon rugulosus
Owen, 1844

Ornithopsis leedsii
Hulke, 1887

Cetiosauriscus stewarti
Charig, 1980

Ornithopsi' manseli
Lydekker, 1888

Gigantosaurus megalonyx
Seeley, 1869

Bothriospondylus suffossus
Owen, 1875

Bothriospondylus robustus
Owen, 1875

Bothriospondylus elongatus
Owen, 1875

Pelorosaurus conybeari
Mantell, 1850

Pelorosaurus becklesii
Mantell, 1852

Oplosaurus armatus
Gervais, 1852

Pleurocoelus valdensis
Lydekker, 1889

Eucamerotus foxi
Blows, 1995

Ornithopsis hulkei
Seeley, 1870

Ornithopsis eucamerotus
Hulke, 1882

Chondrosteosaurus gigas
Owen, 1876

Chondrosteosaurus magnus
Owen, 1876

Iuticosaurus valdensis
(Huene, 1929) Le Loeuff, 1993

= Titanosaurus valdensis Huene, 1929

'Titanosaurus' lydekkeri
Huene, 1929

Dinodocus mackesoni (Owen, 1841b)
Owen, 1884

= Polyptychodon mackesoni Owen, 1841b

= Pelorosaurus mackesoni (Owen, 1841b) McIntosh, 1990

= Pleurocoelus mackesoni (Owen, 1841b) Hunt et al., 1994

Macrurosaurus semnus
Seeley, 1876a

'Zanclodon' cambrensis
Newton, 1899

Sarcosaurus woodi
Andrews, 1921

Sarcosaurus andrewsi
Huene, 1932

= Magnosaurus woodwardi
Huene, 1932

'Megalosaurus' lydekkeri
Huene, 1926a

'Megalosaurus' insignis
Eudes-Deslongchamps, 1870

Magnosaurus nethercombensis
Huene, 1932

'Megalosaurus' hesperis
Waldman, 1974

Megalosaurus bucklandii
Ritgen, 1826

Iliosuchus incognitus
Huene, 1932

Streptospondylus cuvieri
Owen, 1842

Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis
Walker, 1964

Metriacanthosaurus parkeri
Huene, 1923

Baryonyx walkeri
Charig & Milner, 1986

Neovenator salerii
Hutt, 1996

Becklespinax altispinax
Paul, 1988

Valdoraptor oweni
Lydekker, 1889

Proceratosaurus bradleyi
Woodward, 1910

Nuthetes destructor
Owen, 1854

Calamospondylus oweni
Fox, 1866

Aristosuchus pusillus
Owen, 1876

Ornithodesmus cluniculus
Seeley, 1887

Calamosaurus foxi
Lydekker, 1889

Eotyrannus lengi
Hutt, 2001

Thecocoelurus daviesi
Seeley, 1888

Wyleyia valdensis
Harrison & Walker, 1973

Enaliornis barretti
Seeley, 1876

Enaliornis sedgwicki
Seeley, 1876

Enaliornis seeleyi
Galton & Martin, 2002

Echinodon becklesii
Owen, 1861b

Scelidosaurus harrisonii
Owen, 1861

Sarcolestes leedsi
Lydekker, 1893

Cryptosaurus eumerus
Seeley, 1869

Polacanthus foxii
Owen, 1865

Vectensia
Delair, 1982

Polacanthus becklesi
Hennig, 1924

Polacanthoides ponderosus
Nopcsa, 1928

Polacanthus rudgwickensis
Blows, 1996

Priodontognathus phillipsii
Seeley, 1869

Hylaeosaurus armatus
Mantell, 1833

Anoplosaurus curtonotus
Seeley, 1879

Anoplosaurus major
Seeley, 1879

Acanthopholis horridus
Huxley, 1867

Acanthopholis eucercus
Seeley, 1879

Syngonosaurus macrocercus
Seeley, 1879

Acanthopholis platypus
Seeley, 1869

Acanthopholis stereocercus
Seeley, 1879

Acanthopholis hughesii
Pereda Suberbiola & Barrett, 1999

Acanthopholis keepingi
Pereda Suberbiola & Barrett, 1999

Regnosaurus northamptoni
Mantell, 1848

Craterosaurus pottonensis
Seeley, 1874

Dacentrurus armatus
Owen, 1875

Dacentrurus hastiger
Owen, 1877

Lexovisaurus durobrivensis
Hulke, 1887

Lexovisaurus vetustus
Huene, 1910

Dacentrurus leedsi
Seeley, 1901

Stegosaurus priscus
Nopcsa, 1911

Yaverlandia bitholus
Galton, 1971

Hypsilophodon foxii
Huxley, 1869

Valdosaurus canaliculatus
Galton, 1975

Valdosaurus dextrapoda
Blows, 1998

'Camptosaurus' valdensis
Lydekker, 1889

Cetiosaurus brachyurus
Owen, 1842

Vectisaurus valdensis
Hulke, 1879

Sphenospondylus gracilis
Lydekker,1888

Callovosaurus leedsi
Lydekker, 1889

Camptosaurus hoggii
Owen, 1874

Cumnoria prestwichii
Hulke, 1880a

Eucercosaurus tanyspondylus
Seeley, 1879

Iguanodon anglicus
Holl, 1829

Iguanodon dawsoni
Lydekker, 1888

Iguanodon fittoni
Lydekker, 1889d

Iguanodon hollingtoniensis
Lydekker, 1889

Iguanodon atherfieldensis
Hooley, 1925

Iguanodon bernissartensis
Boulenger, 1881

Iguanodon seelyi
Hulke, 1882

Iguanodon major
Owen, 1842

'Iguanodon' hillii
Newton, 1892

'Trachodon' cantabrigiensis
Lydekker, 1888

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