Four os discovered on the Isle of Wight are believed to belong to to a species of theropod dinosaur that was antecedently unknown to scientific discipline . Thought to be a relative to the domain - famousT. Rex , the new species is believed to have been around 4 m ( 13 foot ) long and range the Earth 115 million years ago .
The discovery , release in the journalPapers in Palaeontology , describe four fogey that were handed to the Sandown Dinosaur Isle Museum by those who found them . One such dodo huntsman was Robin Ward , who was on a sept holiday when he found one of the mysterious stiff .
" The delight of finding the os we discovered was absolutely rattling , ” he said in astatement . “ I thought they were particular and so took them along when we see Dinosaur Isle Museum . They immediately knew these were something rare and ask if we could donate them to the museum to be to the full explore . "
His find joined three others turn over in by fellow fogey enthusiasts , which were later consider by paleontologists from the University of Southampton . After close inspection , the researcher realized they were looking at a completely young genus of dinosaur .
" We were move by just how hollow this beast was – it ’s interpenetrate with air spaces,”saidChris Barker , a PhD educatee at the university . “ Parts of its skeleton must have been rather frail . ”
The coinage has been namedVectaerovenator inopinatusand link up theT. rexand innovative shuttle in a group known as the bird-footed dinosaur . These animate being are qualify by their pneumatic bones , which contain breeze sacs as an extension of the lung , facilitating atomic number 8 flow and making for tripping skeletons . This was a vital step in the focal point of birds taking flight .
It ’s thoughtV. inopinatusmust have lived to the north of Shanklin where the fossils were rule and later washed there in the shallow ocean . The deposits at Shanklin were laid down as a marine environs so while fossilized oysters and driftwood are common in the area , regain dinosaur remains is rare .
" Although we have enough material to be able to determine the world-wide type of dinosaur , we ’d ideally like to find more to refine our analysis , ” Barker said . “ We are very thankful for the contribution of these fossils to skill and for the important role that citizen scientific discipline can play in fossilology . "
