Uncover Isle of Wight Dinosaur Diversity with Professor Paul Barrett and Dr. Susannah Maidment

The Natural History Museum in London has created a new YouTube series focusing on the palaeontology of the Isle of Wight. You can find out more below!

The Natural History Museum in London have started a new YouTube series focusing on the importance of the Isle of Wight as a dinosaur fossil hotspot. Dr. Susannah Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett feature along with local experts supplying a breakdown of the palaeontological fauna of the island.

Finding Fossils on the Isle of Wight

The guide to find fossils on the Isle of Wight is an informative video highlighting some of the main fossil localities on the island. The fossil localities covered in the video are Thorness Bay, Watershoot Bay and Compton Bay.

This new YouTube series is a great piece of science communication, helping people to find out more about the geology and palaeontology of the Isle Wight and the best places to find fossils. There are eight video episodes available to watch, I highly recommend watching them all!

The Isle of Wight: A Dinosaur Island

The dinosaur island video examines dinosaur diversity on the Isle of Wight.

With over twenty dinosaur species found on the island, the Isle of Wight remains one of the best places within Europe to find dinosaur fossil material. With the cliffs eroding, new dinosaur remains are constantly being uncovered enabling palaeontologists to identify never before seen fossils. Dinosaur Isle Museum is also featured in the video above, which houses some of the most significant dinosaur fossil material found on the island.

Top Six Isle of Wight Dinosaurs

Professor Paul Barrett and Dr. Susannah Maidment breakdown their top six dinosaurs from the Isle of Wight.

Fossil Hunting

PhD student Jeremy Lockwood takes viewers on a fossil hunt in Compton Bay.

Dinosaur Remains Identified

Palaeontologist Megan Jacobs finds dinosaur remains on the Isle of Wight.

It is great to see the Isle of Wight be a major focus in these videos, especially the dinosaurs discovered on the island. I have spent a fair bit of time myself fossil hunting, doing fieldwork, and supporting public fossil walks on the Isle of Wight in the past, these videos make me want to get back out there again and explore!

Vecitpelta at Dinosaur Isle

Dr. Susannah Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett talk about Vectipelta barretti on display at Dinosaur Isle Museum.

Take a tour of the Isle of Wight from above in this video below showcasing the stunning landscapes of the island.

The Isle of Wight Tour

The Isle of Wight from the air showcases the landscapes of the island from a birds eye view.

In the final video Professor Paul Barrett and Dr. Susannah Maidment feature alongside palaeontologists on the Isle of Wight, to share more about what a palaeontologist is and why palaeontology is important.

What is a Palaeontologist?

The eighth field studies video covers palaeontology questions with palaeontologists such as what is a palaeontologist? and what is the best part of the job? alongside other questions.

The Natural History Museum videos of palaeontologists on the Isle of Wight really help showcase the wonderful geology and palaeontology of the island. For those looking for the perfect places to fossil hunt it should be very helpful! The Isle of Wight is geologically rich and a fantastic place to visit and I highly recommend visiting if you have not already. It is the ideal place for palaeontologists in the UK to fossil hunt, see dinosaur fossil specimens on display up close and explore.

The island is relatively small and you can have enjoyable bus journey around most of the island to see the distinct geology and scenery. I have done it a few times myself when I visited the island, it is well worth doing.

I have included a few photos below from my time on the Isle of Wight in 2019 and 2022, it was a wonderful experience volunteering with Dinosaur Isle Museum, fossil hunting and doing palaeontology fieldwork.

The view on Yaverland beach in 2022 when I did palaeontology fieldwork. Image credit: James Ronan, 2022.

The carcharodontosaurian dinosaur *Neovenator salerii* holotype on display at Dinosaur Isle Museum. Image credit: James Ronan, 2019.

Alongside blog writing I am still working on developing the website. The dinosaur profiles can be accessed at the profile tab and you can find all my scicomm links at the scicomm links page. If you are new to the website do explore all that it has to offer.