Researchers discovered rare predators

On the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, a team of researchers unearthed the bones of an animal that is thought to be one of the biggest hunting dinosaurs yet discovered in Europe.

The bones, which are thought to be from a Spinosaurus, were discovered on the Isle of Wight’s southwest shore, according to the study published in PeerJ Life & Environment.

„It was a huge animal, more than 10 meters long, and judging by its dimensions, quite possibly the largest hunting dinosaur ever discovered in Europe,” said the team’s Ph.D. student and lead author, Chris Baker, of the University of Southampton.

The fossils – which include pelvic bones and vertebrae – come from a two-legged dinosaur with a crocodile-like head, the university writes. From the remains, it can be seen that after the death a number of scavengers preyed on the Spinosaurus.

Last year, the researchers from Southampton had already published findings on the study of two similar species. The new find supports the notion that Spinosaurus originally came from western Europe, where it split into several 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 age and other information about the growth of the predator. The Isle of Wight is a geological feature off the south coast of England that has strata that are millions of years old.

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