Natural History Museum fossil identified as Europe’s first megaraptoran dinosaur

A fossilized skull fragment held by London’s Natural History Museum since 1924 has been identified as a previously unknown species of megaraptoran dinosaur. Named ‘Invictibellatrix amberina’, the predator lived approximately 120 million years ago on what is now the Isle of Wight.

A research team led by University College London (UCL) identified the species through CT scanning and anatomical comparisons. The discovery marks the first known European representative of the megaraptoran group, a lineage of meat-eating dinosaurs characterized by muscular arms and large, curved claws rather than massive jaws.

While later members of this group grew to enormous sizes, ‘Invictibellatrix amberina’ was a relatively small predator, estimated to be three to four meters long. The findings, published in Royal Society Open Science, suggest that megaraptorans had a widespread presence across different continents earlier than previously understood.