Largest known meat-eating dinosaur in Europe found

One hundred and fifty million years ago, this gigantic predator dominated part of the land that would eventually become Europe.

 

 

The largest known terrestrial predator in Europe so far, Torvosaurus gurneyi terrorized the prehistoric denizens of the Iberian Peninsula – which includes Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of France – during the late Jurassic period.

 

The fearsome carnivore supposedly grew up to about 10m (33 ft) long, and is estimated to have weighed between four to five tons.

 

Initially believed to be from the Northern American species Torvosaurus tanneri, the dinosaur’s bones, which included the shin bone, upper jawbone, teeth, and partial tail vertebrae, were retrieved from the Lourinhã Formation in west-central Portugal.

 

An in-depth examination of the fossils revealed differences between the number of teeth (T. gunyeri had fewer teeth in its upper jaw), tail vertebrae, and mouth shapes of T. tanneri and T. gurneyi.

 

Researchers Christophe Hendrickx and Octávio Mateus realized that they were looking at an all-new species – the second named under the Torvosaurus genus. Recently-discovered dinosaur embryos from Portugal are also believed to have belonged to T. gurneyi.

 

“With a skull of 115 cm, Torvosaurus gurneyi was however one of the largest terrestrial carnivores at this epoch, and an active predator that hunted other large dinosaurs, as evidenced by blade shape teeth up to 10 cm,” said Hendrickx.

 

T. gurneyi derives its species name from James Gurney, the artist and author of the dinosaur-themed book series Dinotopia.

 

'Megalo'-maniac

 

T. gurneyi is classified under the megalosaur family, a group of large, bipedal theropod dinosaurs with elongated heads, muscular forearms, sharp claws, and powerful legs. While a different family from the more popular Tyrannosaurus rex and its ilk, megalosaurs are believed to have resembled them, and were perhaps even covered in a similar feather-like coat of fuzz (protofeathers).

 

Scientists attribute T. gurneyi’s impressive size to the abundance of large herbivorous prey during its reign (including sauropods and stegosaurs). However, Hendrickx was quick to clarify that T. tanneri isn’t the biggest carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered.

 

"This is not the largest predatory dinosaur we know. Tyrannosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Giganotosaurus from the Cretaceous were bigger animals," said the researcher.

 

The authors’ findings were recently published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE (PLOS ONE). — TJD, GMA News