Wondering what exactly is Vectaerovenator inopinatus? The word dinosaur literally means ‘terrible lizard’. Though the dinosaurs had been extinct for about 63 million years, scientists have been able to reconstruct what they look like, how they moved etc. Most of the things we know today about dinosaurs are done by comparing the skeletons with modern animals by scientists. It’s amazing, isn’t it?
Vectaerovenator inopinatus is the newly found species of theropod dinosaurs, the category to which Tyrannosaurus rex and birds of modern-day belong to. Bones of this new dinosaur were discovered on the foreshore at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, last year, and are from its neck, back and tail. The name given to it indicates the large air spaces in some of the bones which were one of the property that helped scientists to identify its theropod origin.
Paleontologist says that this dinosaur lived during the Cretaceous period about 115 million years ago and is supposed to have been up to 4 meters in length. This was confirmed in 2019 when these fossils and two of the bones was discovered by individuals and that of one by a family group.
The study led by Chris Barker who is a Ph.D. student at the University of South-Hampton says, “You don’t normally find dinosaurs in the deposits at Shanklin as they were laid down in marine habitat. The probability of finding fossil oysters or driftwood is much more than finding a dinosaur fossil”. This made the new discovery a rare find. One of the finest locale, The Isle of Wight, is well-known for dinosaur remains in Europe and the new species, Vectaerovenator inopinatus, would now go on display at the Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown, United Kingdom.
Reference: New species of dinosaur discovered on Isle of Wight
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