In 1887
Richard Lydekker described two sauropod tail vertebrae found by
William Fox near
Brook Bay on Wight, BMNH R146a and BMNH 151, and referred them to the genus
Ornithopsis, despite indicating their similarity to
Titanosaurus (noting them once as
Titanosaurus species A and
Titanosaurus species B), On reading the paper to the
Geological Society of London, Lydekker was criticised by
Harry Govier Seeley and
John Hulke for his choice and in 1888 he referred to the fossils as
Titanosaurus sp. a,
Titanosaurus sp. b being a third vertebra, BMNH 32390.'''' In 1929
Friedrich von Huene named both taxa as full species. The first became
Titanosaurus Valdensis, the
specific name referring to the
Wealden, the second
Titanosaurus Lydekkeri, its specific name honouring Lydekker. By present convention both specific names would be spelled as
T. valdensis and
T. lydekkeri respectively. In 1993
Jean le Loeuff redescribed the material and named a separate genus:
Iuticosaurus, the generic name referring to the
Jutes who settled the island in the fifth century and established a Jute dynasty in the sixth century. Le Loeuff made
Iuticosaurus valdensis the
type species, and chose BMNH 151 as the
lectotype. Another vertebra, BMNH R 1886, was referred by him to this species. The second species, though formally named by him as
Iuticosaurus lydekkeri, he considered a
nomen dubium. ==Description==