UCL-led researchers have identified Invictibellatrix amberina, a new dinosaur species represented by an Isle of Wight skull fossil acquired by London’s Natural History Museum in 1924, as Europe’s first known megaraptoran.
The fossil is a fragment of the back of the skull, rather than a complete skeleton, and had remained unstudied in the museum’s collection for decades. The researchers describe the species in a paper published in Royal Society Open Science. The dinosaur lived about 120 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous, in what is now southern England.
Based on comparisons with related dinosaurs, the team estimates it was about three to four metres long and stood roughly 1.5 metres tall; its claws may have measured 10 to 20 centimetres. Megaraptorans were two-legged meat-eaters related to tyrannosaurs, but were known for large arms and curved claws used to attack prey. The researchers suggest this smaller species hunted animals such as small dinosaurs, lizards and mammals, rather than being the top predator in its environment.
Its identification adds Europe to the known record of megaraptorans and gives scientists a new fossil to consider when studying the group’s evolution and spread.