The dino 'more dangerous than a T. rex' to humans had we existed
This terrifying megaraptor would probably have eaten humans for lunch if it had a chance!
- Published
A new dinosaur species has been discovered from a fossil that has been sitting in a museum collection for almost 100 years.
The newly-named Invictibellatrix amberina is thought to have been a scarier cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex, even though it was much smaller.
The fossil was discovered on the Isle of Wight in 1924, and was overlooked until recently, when researchers decided to use modern CT scanners to study the specimen in more depth.
Lead author, Dr Cassius Morrison (UCL Earth Sciences), says the fragment suggests it would have been three to four metres long and "about as tall as a human".
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Human snack anyone?
The fossil was 'rediscovered' in a collection at the Natural History Museum in London.
But, terrifyingly, the team say that human beings would have been an ideal meal for this megaraptor, had we had existed at the same time as the dinosaurs.
"It was not the apex predator of its time, but for humans this dinosaur would have been more dangerous than a T. rex.
"We would have been perfectly sized prey, about a third of their body weight.
"They definitely would have chased us. A T. rex would not have bothered, as we would have been too small".
Gulp!
The fossil (pictured here from two angles) had been part of the museum's collection since 1924. The oval hole is where the brain would have been.
Amazingly, from a small fossil, the team used advanced computer technology and mathematical modelling to create a full picture of this creature's habits, what it might have eaten and even how it arrived in Europe.
They compared the fossil to skulls from other two-legged carnivores and by noticing a few stand-out features; such as an oval hole where the spinal cord entered the brain and an hour-glass-shaped crest, they determined it was a new species.
They also said the Invictibellatrix would have had long arms and huge curved, feathered claws which it used to grab its prey.
Its name means "unconquered female warrior" and this dinosaur was thought to have lived around 120 million years ago.
Co-author Charlie Scherer, PhD student at UCL Earth Sciences, said: "This new species is the first proof we have that megaraptorans were also present in Europe and that they reached Gondwana (a prehistoric super-continent made up of modern-day South America, Africa, Antarctica and parts of Oceania) this way rather than island-hopping further south."
