Partial Isle of Wight skull identified as new megaraptoran species Invictibellatrix amberina

Researchers working on a partial skull discovered on the Isle of Wight have identified the specimen as a new species of megaraptoran theropod and given it the name Invictibellatrix amberina.

The study’s lead author, University of Leeds postdoctoral researcher Cassius Morrison, and co-author Charlie Scherer, a University College London doctoral student, published their analysis in the journal Royal Society Open Science and present the skull as an early member of the Cretaceous-period megaraptoran lineage.

Both bdnews24 and geo.tv report that the fossil originates from strata dated to about 120 million years ago and that its proportions imply a tiger-sized predator roughly 5 m (16 ft) long. The outlets attribute the size and weight comparison—and the broader anatomical interpretation—to the authors’ comparisons with better-known megaraptoran specimens.

The paper emphasises how megaraptorans combine a relatively small, narrow skull with long, powerful forelimbs bearing large manual claws, and a lightly built skeleton. bdnews24 quoted Morrison describing megaraptorans as “very unique among theropods” for that mix of features; geo.tv reported Morrison saying those characteristics imply agility and a hunting style relying on running and disembowelling prey with the hand claws.

Both outlets present the same core anatomical claim: the new skull adds diagnostic features that clarify how megaraptoran skull anatomy relates to their distinctive forelimb-dominated predatory toolkit.

The fossil’s size estimate rests on comparisons with more complete megaraptoran specimens rather than on a complete skeleton of Invictibellatrix amberina itself; the authors and both outlets frame the 5 m (16 ft) length and tiger-weight analogy as an estimate based on closely related taxa.

The accounts make clear that the specimen is a partial skull, so the reconstruction of overall body proportions remains inferential and tied to the broader megaraptoran record. The study’s placement of the specimen within the megaraptoran lineage is presented as the authors’ scientific interpretation rather than an independent, separately confirmed consensus.

Coverage of the find spread beyond the two articles: several other outlets carried headlines corroborating that an Isle of Wight fossil sheds light on enigmatic meat-eating dinosaurs. Those headlines align with the central claim reported by bdnews24 and geo.tv but add no new anatomical detail in the texts available here.

The authors link the skull’s anatomy to questions about megaraptoran evolution, arguing the fossil helps fill a gap in understanding how the group’s unusual combination of small heads and large forelimbs evolved among Cretaceous theropods.

The published analysis therefore contributes new morphological data to debates over megaraptoran functional anatomy and palaeobiology, while acknowledging that a partial skull limits the scope of what can be established about the species’ full skeleton and behaviour.

Readers should note that the size and behavioural inferences reported by the outlets derive from the authors’ comparisons with related taxa and from interpretation of the partial skull; neither outlet claimed those inferences are independently verified by a complete skeleton of Invictibellatrix amberina.

The reporting consistently identifies the specimen as an early megaraptoran and presents the naming of Invictibellatrix amberina and the anatomical interpretations as the article’s central documented findings.