Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 2 hrs ago
Isle of Wight fossil identified as a new megaraptoran dinosaur
Researchers have identified a new predatory dinosaur from a fossil found on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
They named it Invictibellatrix amberina and classify it as a megaraptoran, a group of agile, two-legged carnivores related to Tyrannosaurus rex.
The partial braincase had been in a London museum since 1924, after being acquired from Reverend Reginald Hooley.
The fossil comes from rocks about 120 million years old, and scans helped researchers compare it with other dinosaurs.
If the classification is right, it is Europe’s first known megaraptoran, a group whose fossils have also been found in Asia, Australia and South America.
Researchers suggest the group may have spread from Asia through Europe and Africa, but more fossils are needed to test that idea.
Researchers identified a fossil from the Isle of Wight as a possible new species of megaraptoran, a group of predatory dinosaurs.
The proposed species is named Invictibellatrix amberina.
If the identification is correct, it is the first megaraptoran found in Europe.
The fossil is a partial braincase that had been held in the Natural History Museum in London since 1924.
Researchers estimate the dinosaur was 3 to 4 metres long and weighed between 200 and 300 kilograms.
- Who
- A research team led by UCL identified the fossil; New Scientist reports that Cassius Morrison and colleagues studied it.
- What
- They identified it as a possible new megaraptoran species, named Invictibellatrix amberina.
- When
- The fossil was acquired by the Natural History Museum in 1924; the species was reported in articles published on 13 October 2026.
- Where
- The fossil was found in Lower Cretaceous rocks on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, England.
- Why
- CT scans and comparisons with other dinosaur fossils led researchers to propose that it belonged to a new species.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The fossil-bearing rocks formed in the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation.
The Natural History Museum acquired the fossil from Reverend Reginald Hooley.
Articles reported the identification of the fossil as a possible new megaraptoran species.
- Proposed species
- Invictibellatrix amberina
- Fossil
- Partial braincase
- Acquired by museum
- 1924
- Estimated length
- 3 to 4 metres
- Estimated weight
- 200 to 300 kilograms
- Location
- South-west coast of the Isle of Wight
3 sources
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What people are saying
It was sitting unstudied in the museum for about 100 years, which is very surreal
If Invictibellatrix is indeed a megaraptoran, it expands the palaeobiogeographic range of the group and plugs a significant gap in our knowledge, linking those from South-East Asia to Australia and South America via Europe and Africa
However, more fossils are required to support or reject this hypothesis