Dino teeth help scientists take a bite out of history 135 million years ago

Julia Musto
·2-min read
Dino teeth help scientists take a bite out of history 135 million years ago

Paleontologists and a former quarry worker have discovered evidence of 135-million-year-old tyrannosaurs on the southeastern English coast for the first time.

Retired quarryman Dave Brockhurst, who has spent the last 30 years uncovering fossils, found the teeth in the East Sussex town of Bexhill-on-Sea.

The scientists also concluded that other carnivorous species roamed the area, including spinosaurs and members of the Velociraptor family.

An Early Cretaceous floodplain in southeastern England is shown in this illustration. A spinosaur, right, takes over the carcass of an ornithopod, as tyrannosaurs look on. Some 135 million years later, paleontologists have discovered their teeth in the area (Credit: Anthony Hutchings)
An Early Cretaceous floodplain in southeastern England is shown in this illustration. A spinosaur, right, takes over the carcass of an ornithopod, as tyrannosaurs look on. Some 135 million years later, paleontologists have discovered their teeth in the area (Credit: Anthony Hutchings)

The theropod teeth vary in shape and size, as well as their characteristics. The fossils were analyzed with artificial intelligence and other methods by the University of Southampton and other institutions in England and Argentina.The tyrannosaur species in the area would have been around a third of the size of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex.

Discovered teeth of (a) spinosaur, (b) tyrannosaur, (c) dromaeosaur, (d) possible tyrannosaur, (e) indeterminate tyrannoraptoran - the group containing tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs (Velociraptor and kin), are seen in this image. Theropod teeth vary in shape and size (Credit Barker et al (2024))
Discovered teeth of (a) spinosaur, (b) tyrannosaur, (c) dromaeosaur, (d) possible tyrannosaur, (e) indeterminate tyrannoraptoran - the group containing tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs (Velociraptor and kin), are seen in this image. Theropod teeth vary in shape and size (Credit Barker et al (2024))

“Southern England has an exceptionally good record of Cretaceous dinosaurs, and various sediment layers here are globally unique in terms of geological age and the fossils they contain,” Dr. Darren Naish, a co-author of the study, said.

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“These East Sussex dinosaurs are older than those from the better-known Cretaceous sediments of the Isle of Wight, and are mysterious and poorly known by comparison,” he added. “We’ve hoped for decades to find out which theropod groups lived here, so the conclusions of our new study are really exciting.”

Dave Brockhurst, the retired quarryman, at the site where the tyrannosaur and raptor teeth were discovered. Brockhurst has spent the last 30 years uncovering fossils (Dave Brockhurst)
Dave Brockhurst, the retired quarryman, at the site where the tyrannosaur and raptor teeth were discovered. Brockhurst has spent the last 30 years uncovering fossils (Dave Brockhurst)

“Dinosaur teeth are tough fossils and are usually preserved more frequently than bone. For that reason, they’re often crucial when we want to reconstruct the diversity of an ecosystem”, Dr. Chris Barker, visiting researcher at the University of Southampton, explained in a statement.

Several of the specimens are on display at Bexhill Museum in East Sussex.

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