A team of researchers has found the remains of an animal believed to be one of the largest hunting dinosaurs ever discovered in Europe on the British Isle of Wight. The bones, believed to belong to a so-called Spinosaurus, were found on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, the scientists report in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment.
“It was a huge animal, over 10 meters long, and judging by its size, it was arguably the largest hunting dinosaur ever discovered in Europe,” said the team’s doctoral student and lead author Chris Baker, of the University of Southampton. .
Scavengers at work
The fossils — including pelvic bones and vertebrae — come from a two-legged dinosaur with a crocodile-like head, the university writes. The remains show that after death a number of scavengers hunted the Spinosaurus. Last year, the Southampton researchers had already published findings from the study of two similar species.
Search for more information
The new find supports the idea that Spinosaurus originally came from Western Europe, where it split into different species before spreading further, the researchers write. They now want to examine thin layers of the found materials under the microscope to find out the predator’s age and other information about the growth.
Located off the south coast of England, the Isle of Wight has geological formations, some of which have strata dating back many millions of years.
Source: Krone
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