Museum fossil reveals Europe’s first megaraptoran dinosaur

A piece of dinosaur skull acquired by London’s Natural History Museum in 1924 has yielded a new species—and Europe’s first reported megaraptoran, a member of a group of two-legged meat-eating dinosaurs.

Named Invictibellatrix amberina, the animal lived on the Isle of Wight about 120 million years ago. The museum announced the identification on October 14, describing research published in Royal Society Open Science.

The discovery comes from a partial braincase, the part of the skull surrounding the brain. Researchers used CT scanning and comparisons with other dinosaur skulls to work out where the specimen belonged. The scans produced models of both the surviving skull and its interior.

An oval opening where the spinal cord entered the brain and an hourglass-shaped crest were among the features that supported recognition of a distinct species. Computer analyses comparing its skull traits with those of other dinosaurs consistently placed it in the megaraptoran group.

The identification extends the group’s known geographical range to Europe. The evidence came from a bone already in a museum collection, allowing researchers to add to the fossil record without a new excavation.

Researchers estimate the animal was three to four meters long, drawing on what is known about its relatives.

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