Scientists announced that the remains of what is thought to be the largest land dinosaur in Europe were discovered on the Isle of Wight island in England.
Paleontologists from the University of Southampton have found the remains of the predator, which is thought to have lived about 125 million years ago and was 10 meters long, in the southwest of the island.
Researchers think the remains belong to a predatory dinosaur from the spinosaurid family with two legs and a crocodile-like face.
The remains discovered on the Isle of Wight belong to the pelvis and tail of the dinosaur.
Chris Barker, the PhD student at the head of the study, said the remains belonged to “a giant animal 10 meters long and weighing several tons” and continued:
“Judging by its size, we think it’s the largest dinosaur ever discovered in Europe. It might even be the largest dinosaur ever seen.”
Experts think that the discovered dinosaur lived in a geological time period with rising sea levels, estimating that the animal had to forage for food in the lagoons and sand flats formed in the region.
Researchers temporarily nicknamed the dinosaur the ‘White stone spinosaurid’ after the rock on which it stood.
Co-author Darren Naish said, “We haven’t given a scientific name yet as we’ve only found certain parts of the dinosaur for now. We hope to find other parts of its body in time,” said co-author Darren Naish.
Most of the fossil was discovered by Nick Chase, known as the ‘dinosaur hunter’ on the Isle of Wight, who died just before the coronavirus pandemic.
Jeremy Lockwood, another author of the study and a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth and the Natural History Museum in London, said: “I was looking for the remains of this dinosaur with Nick, and I found the pelvis of the animal. It had pits the size of my index finger.”
“We think these pits were created by insects that ate bone remains. It’s an interesting idea that such a large predator could become food for a group of insects.”