15 Hylaeosaurus armatus

3D Model

Hylaeosaurus means ‘forest lizard’ – the first fossil specimen was found in a quarry in the Weald (Old English for ‘forest’), Sussex, in 1833 by the pioneering palaeontologist Gideon Mantell.

The species depicted is Hylaeosaurus armatus, and the protective armoured spikes running down its back are its most eye-catching feature. A plant eater, this dinosaur species lived about 140–130 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous. Although the sculpture is a patchwork (chimaera) based on fossils from a number of different types of dinosaur, and much about it is inaccurate (there would have been multiple rows of spikes down its back, for example), it is also the dinosaur sculpture that has best stood the test of time in terms of modern understanding of its form.

The head on the body is a fiberglass replacement fitted after the original fell off in 1976. The original head is now sited at a high point overlooking the islands.

Model by Rhys Griffin ©Rhys Griffin/FCPD & Historic England