Century old London museum fossil identified as new dinosaur species

A dinosaur fossil kept in the collections of London's Natural History Museum for nearly 100 years has been identified as a new species, Euronews reported. The 120 million year old skull fragment belonged to Invictibellatrix amberina, a newly identified carnivorous dinosaur. Euronews, the London Evening Standard, People.com, and cristinaiglesias.com all report that the fossil had been stored in the museum for around a century before scientists recognized it as a new species. [1][2][3][4]

The fossil represents the first confirmed evidence of a megaraptoran dinosaur in Europe, according to Euronews. Megaraptorans were predatory dinosaurs that featured powerful arms and sharp claws. Euronews reported that the skull fragment belonged to a meat eater that lived approximately 120 million years ago. [1]

Amateur fossil hunter Reginald Walter Tooley originally discovered the specimen at the foot of a cliff on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, Euronews reported. Following his death in 1924, the Natural History Museum acquired more than 1,000 specimens from his personal collection, including the skull fragment. [1]

The Natural History Museum is located on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, with its main frontage on Cromwell Road. The museum exhibits a wide range of specimens spanning various fields of natural history. [5]