Artistic image of the massive spinosaurid from the White Rock.
A giant dinosaur with a crocodile face, discovered on the Isle of Wight by one of Britain’s best fossil hunters, is perhaps the largest predator to ever lurk in Europe, scientists said on Thursday.
Most of the bones of the two-legged spinosaurus were found by the late local collector Nick Chase, who dedicated his life to combing the beaches of the island on the south coast of England for dinosaur remains.
Researchers at the University of Southampton then used the few available bones to identify what they called “White Rock Spinosaurid,” they said in a study published in the journal. PeerJ.
“It was a huge animal over 10 meters (33 feet) long and, judging by some of its size, is probably the largest predatory dinosaur ever discovered in Europe,” said Chris Barker, Ph.D. student who led the study.
While acknowledging that it would be better to have more bones, Barker told AFP that “the numbers don’t lie – it’s bigger than the largest known specimen” ever found in Europe.
Thomas Richard Holtz, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland who was not involved in the study, agreed that the new find “seems to be bigger” than a huge predator whose fossils have been found in Portugal.
Matt Lamana, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the United States, praised the “excellent, in-depth study of the specimen” given the lack of bones, but said it was difficult to compare in size.
For example, he said that the largest known spinosaurus, Spinosaurus, is probably the longest such dinosaur, “but probably not as heavy” as Tyrannosaurus rex or Giganotosaurus – “the latter of which is about to become super famous thanks to to the new film “Jurassic World”.
The best-preserved bones of the White Rock Spinosaurus, including the caudal vertebra, which helped pinpoint its enormous size.
Why the long face?
The White Rock Spinosaurus – which researchers hope to officially name as a new species – dates back to the Early Cretaceous and is estimated at about 125 million years.
Barker said that makes him the youngest spinosaurid found in Britain, two or three million years younger than the well-known Baryonyx.
Spinosaurids are known for their elongated heads. Instead of having the square skull of a tyrannosaurus rex, their faces look more like a crocodile’s.
A leading theory explaining this trait is that they hunted both in water and on land.
“They’re like storks and herons trampling and grabbing fish from the surface,” Barker said.
The White Rock Spinosaurid was found in a coastal lagoon, where there are usually few dinosaur fossils.
“It helps you start to paint a picture of what animals lived at the time, which is a very little known part of the English paleontological heritage,” Barker added.
Nick Chase, who scientists have called “one of Britain’s most skilled dinosaur hunters,” has discovered most of the new spinosaurid bones.
The team has already identified two new species of Spinosaurids on the Isle of Wight, including Ceratosuchops inferodios – called the “Hell’s Heron”.
“This new animal supports our previous argument, published last year, that spinosaurs originated and diversified in Western Europe before becoming more widespread,” said study co-author Darren Nish.
“Incredible ability” of the collector
Paleontologists paid tribute to Chase, who always donated whatever bones he found to museums.
“Most of these amazing fossils were discovered by Nick Chase, one of Britain’s most skilled dinosaur hunters, who unfortunately died just before the COVID epidemic,” said study co-author Jeremy Lockwood, Ph.D. student at the University of Portsmouth.
Barker said Chase’s “incredible ability to find bones” shows that “it’s not just professional paleontologists who influence discipline.”
The discovery “highlights the fact that collectors play a major role in modern paleontology and their generosity helps move science forward,” he added.
And if there are ambitious fossil hunters who hope to continue where Chase left off, paleontologists would welcome more spinosaurid bones than White Rock.
“We hope that a passer-by can take some pieces and donate them,” Barker said.
Europe’s largest terrestrial predator has been found on the Isle of Wight. PeerJ (2022). DOI: 10.7717 / peerj.13543 Magazine information: PeerJ
© 2022 AFP
Citation: “Europe’s largest predatory dinosaur”, found by a fossil hunter in the United Kingdom (2022, June 11), retrieved on June 11, 2022 from
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