New ‘sail-backed’ dinosaur named after Dame Ellen MacArthur

A new species of dinosaur that had an “eye-catching sail” along its back has been named after sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur.

The dinosaur, unearthed on the Isle of Wight, has been given the name Istiorachis macarthurae with the first word meaning “sail spine” and the second referring to Dame Ellen’s surname.

The record-breaking round-the-world yachtswoman said it was a “huge honour”, adding: “The fact that the Istiorachis ‘sail’ could be likened to the sails I have spent so much of my life below was very touching.”

After being analysed it has now been officially named and described by island-based scientist Jeremy Lockwood, and is now on display at Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown.

The medium-sized herbivore once roamed the floodplains of what is now the island’s south-west coast.

Its remains, which date back 125 million years, were originally discovered by fossil hunter Nick Chase, who died of cancer in 2019.

Before Dr Lockwood’s analysis the fossils were assumed to have belonged to one of the two known iguanodontian dinosaur species from the Isle of Wight.

He said: “While the skeleton wasn’t as complete as some of the others that have been found, no-one had really taken a close look at these bones before.

“It was thought to be just another specimen of one of the existing species, but this one had particularly long neural spines, which was very unusual.

“It may have been used for display, much like a peacock’s feathers, possibly to attract mates or intimidate rivals.”

For the study, researchers compared the fossilised bones with a database of similar dinosaur back bones which allowed them to see how these sail-like formations had evolved.

Dame Ellen, founder and patron of the East Cowes based charity the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, said: “It is certainly not an everyday occurrence to be asked if a newly discovered dinosaur could reference your name in its title.

“I was somewhat taken aback when this conversation began, but felt hugely privileged to be asked.

“The fact that the Istiorachis ‘sail’ could be a-likened to the sails I have spent so much of my life below was very touching.

“It is both extraordinary and a huge honour that a creature living 125 million years ago could possibly be linked to my family name.”

She became the fastest person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 2005.