![]() In 1987, a BBC documentary was made on its discovery and a cast was made for NHM's display. It was featured in worldwide press and was given the nickname "Claws" (a spin of Steven Spielberg's Jaws). Baryonyx was the first large Early Cretaceous theropod, the last record holder being Eustreptospondylus. They then called their work preliminary because 70% of the remains were cleaned, promising a better description. A year earlier, the dinosaur was presented during a lecture at a conference on dinosaur systematics from Drumheller, Canada. The claw was assumed to have been on the foot as in dromaeosaurs. Charig and Milner (1986) named it then as Baryonyx walkeri, meaning "Walker's heavy claw". This specimen was known as BMNH R9951 but is now known as NHMUK VP R9951. Almost 65% of the specimen was recovered, including premaxillae, left maxillae, both nasals, a left lacrimal, left prefrontal, left postorbital, the braincase and occiput, denteries, the back of the mandible, teeth, cervical, caudals and dorsals, ribs, both scapulae, both coracoids, both humeri, left radius and ulnar, finger bones and unguals, the hip, the upper end of the left and lower of the right femur, right fibula, foot bones and an ungual. Over a 6 year period of constant preparation with dental tools, aur mallets and microscopes used, they were clean. They attempted to bathe the fossils in acid, but most was removed mechanically. The siltstone matrix was hard and siderite was present, and thus difficult to prepare. Certain remains were disturbed by bulldozers and others broken by machinery before discovery. They were dislocated and scattered in a 5 by 2 meter area, most not far from their natural position. Most of the remains were crusted with Sikeston nodules and were In a matrix of fine sand, silt and clay. This site had been explored for about 200 years, but there are no records of similar material being discovered. ![]() Walker donated the claw and the Ockley Brick Company, who owned the pit, donated the remaining skeleton and necessary tools. 8 team members and volunteers excavated 2 metric tons of matrix and 54 blocks over 3 weeks. In February, they found fragments and collected most of the skeleton in May and June due to severe weather in the pit. Here, Alan Charig and Angela Milner identified it as a theropod dinosaur. His son-in-law brought the claw to the Natural History Museum of London. The second expedition also found a partial phalanx and rib. After realizing the tip was lost, he returned to the sit a week later and found it after an hour of searching. Walker explored the Smokejacks Pit of the Weald Clay Formation, discovering a large claw that he assembled back at home.
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