The remains of the
holotype were discovered in the early 1960s in the Cross Hands Quarry, near
Little Compton, in
Warwickshire in England. These fossils came from the
Chipping Norton Limestone Formation, which is dated to the lower
Bathonian stage of the
Middle Jurassic, about 167 mya (million years ago). The fossils were stored in the
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until 2008 when they were transferred to the
Warwickshire Museum Service; the transfer prompted closer study of the neglected fossils. Unrecognized fossils of dinosaurs, many of them theropods, had been discovered in England at least as early as 1677. The larger theropod fossils had been attributed (without critical examination) to
Megalosaurus, while the smaller ones were assigned to
Iliosuchus. The 2010 paper recognized differences between the Cross Hands Quarry discovery and those attributed to
Megalosaurus. These differences include lower and broader spines along the animal's back, and differences in leg and hip bones. The authors renamed the Cross Hands Quarry specimens
Cruxicheiros newmanorum; the generic name
Cruxicheiros comes from a mixture of
Latin and
Greek, Latin
crux meaning "cross" and Greek
cheir meaning "hand", in reference to the Cross Hands Quarry locality where the fossils were discovered. The
specific name newmanorum honors the Newman family, who own the quarry. ==Description==