Isle of Wight fossil sheds light on enigmatic meat-eating dinosaurs

A newly discovered fossil from the Isle of Wight has shed light on a previously enigmatic group of meat-eating dinosaurs. The partial skull of a tiger-sized predator, named Invictibellatrix amberina, belongs to an early member of the Cretaceous Period lineage of megaraptorans. The fossil provides insight into the skull anatomy of early megaraptorans and helps show how the group spread globally.

Measuring about 16 feet (5 meters) in length and weighing as much as a large tiger, Invictibellatrix possessed long and slender heads, long and strong arms with massive hand claws, and a lightly built skeleton. These features suggest that megaraptorans were agile hunters capable of chasing down prey and using their large arms and claws to capture and kill their victims.

While Invictibellatrix was not the top predator on the Isle of Wight, larger theropods were present alongside various herbivorous dinosaurs. Research suggests that megaraptorans evolved from a common Asian ancestor and spread across Europe, Africa, and South America before the dinosaurs met their end 66 million years ago.