FOSSIL REVEALS NEW DINOSAUR SPECIES FROM ISLE OF WIGHT

Researchers have identified a new dinosaur species from a fossil found on the Isle of Wight, after the specimen went unexamined for more than a century, according to a research team led by University College London. The fossil, part of a skull, was acquired by the Natural History Museum in 1924 but had remained unstudied in storage until now. Scientists have named the dinosaur Invictibellatrix amberina, meaning "unconquered female warrior". It belongs to a group of two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs called megaraptorans, and researchers say it is the first member of that group found in Europe. The findings have been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The fossil was originally discovered at the base of a cliff on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight by amateur palaeontologist Reginald Walter Tooley.

According to the research team, Invictibellatrix lived in the UK around 120 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period, and was closely related to tyrannosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex. Dr Cassius Morrison, lead author of the paper, said the animal was roughly the size of a large tiger, measuring three to four metres long and just over a metre and a half tall, with feathers and claws between 10cm and 20cm long. Dr Morrison said it fed on small dinosaurs, lizards and mammals, and was not the apex predator of its era. He said megaraptorans are believed to have originated in Asia before spreading through Europe.

Dr Morrison said that, unlike T. rex, Invictibellatrix would likely have viewed humans as suitably sized prey and would have pursued them, given humans would have weighed about a third of the dinosaur's body weight. He described it as a "real mystery" that the fossil went unexamined for close to a century. Dr Morrison said numerous bones continue to be found on the Isle of Wight, raising the possibility of further undiscovered species. The research was funded by the Palaeontographical Society, the Royal Society and UK Research and Innovation.