New dinosaur species identified from fossil tucked away in a museum

(NewsNation) — A fossil stored in a London museum for more than a century has been identified as a new species of dinosaur.

Researchers say the new dinosaur, Invictibellatrix amberina, was identified from a skull fragment at the Natural History Museum. The fossil was first found by Reginald Walter Tooley, an amateur paleontologist, at the base of a cliff on the Isle of Wight.

After Tooley died, the museum acquired the fossil in 1924, along with more than 1,000 other specimens he had collected.

“It is a real mystery that this fossil was overlooked for so long, sitting in a drawer for nearly 100 years,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Cassius Morrison, in a press release.

Researchers used CT scans to make 3D images of the skull and the area where the dinosaur’s brain would have been. When they compared these images to other meat-eating dinosaurs, they found some unusual features. These included an oval-shaped opening where the spinal cord met the brain and a ridge shaped like an hourglass. These differences led them to decide it was a new species.

Invictibellatrix was part of a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called megaraptorans, which were related to tyrannosaurs. It had a long, narrow head, small arms, and probably had feathers. Its claws were between 4 and 8 inches long. The dinosaur was about 10 to 13 feet long and stood around 5 feet tall, making it one of the smallest and earliest megaraptorans found so far.

Scientists believe it lived in what is now the United Kingdom about 120 million years ago. Its name means ‘unconquered female warrior,’ a reference to the group’s later role as top predators.

“It was not the apex predator of its time, but for humans this dinosaur would have been more dangerous than a T. rex,” Morrison said.

“We would have been perfectly sized prey, about a third of their body weight,” he continued. “They definitely would have chased us. A T. rex would not have bothered, as we would have been too small.”

The researchers published their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science.