Neovenator

*Neovenator salerii*

***Neovenator*** ("new hunter") is a genus of carcharodontosaurian Theropod. Since its discovery on the Isle of Wight, UK, it has become one of the best-known large carnivorous dinosaurs in Europe. *Neovenator* was at first considered possibly a new species of *Megalosaurus*. It measured approximately 7.5 meters in length, and had a gracile build. It lived during the Barremian stage (Early Cretaceous).

## Discovery and species

   The first bones of the type species were discovered in 1978, in the chalk cliffs of southwest Isle of Wight. It was much later (1996) that more bones from this specimen were found. Excavations undertaken by Dr. Steve Hutt and his team have so far revealed approximately 70% of the skeleton.
At the time that it was described, by Steve Hutt, Martill and Barker in 1996, it was considered the only known allosaurid in Europe. However, further studies suggested it had more in common with the advanced carcharodontosaurid group of allosaurs, and several studies including a detailed examination of the species by Benson, Carrano and Brusatte in 2010 showed that it is in fact closely related to the Carcharodontosauridae (in a group called Carcharodontosauria), but is actually closer to the Megaraptorans, together with them forming the family Neovenatoridae.

## Description

 File:Neovenator Scale.png
*Neovenator* means "new hunter" and the epithet is after the Salero family, who owned the land; the describers thought improper to isolate any one person in the family as responsible, so thought to honour the entire family instead. *Neovenator* is a gracile theropod about 7.5 meters long, with MIWG 4199 (a toe phalanx) belonging to an animal about 10 meters long. However, it is unknown and dubious if this specimen is actually a *Neovenator* or something else. Previously apomorphic traits were realized later to be shared with other taxa. The nostrils are very large, the rear back vertebrae are pneumatized (common for carcharodontosaurids), paired nasal crests similar to *Allosaurus* are present and the denticles continue over the tooth apex. In 2015, a complex neurovascular system was reported in the rostrum, which were sensory organs that were possibly used to search for prey in water in spinosaurids. However, it is doubted if these organs served the same purpose in *Neovenator*. It bore extreme facial sensitivity and evidence of extensive facial tissue, including lips, was supported by Naish et al. but not included in their publication.

## History

In summer 1978, a storm loosened rocks (including fossil plant scraps in bed L9 and variegated clays and marls from the Barremian) from Grange Chine on Brighstone Bay and were discovered by Keith and Jenny Simmonds, who were amateur paleontologists among a group of amateur paleontologists, who had found a snout, teeth, front mandible, most of the vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, chevrons, a left shoulder girdle, pelvic bones and a hindlimb. These were given the ID BMNH R10001 and MIWG.6348. This made ~70% of the skeleton. Jenny Simmonds (1987) found another skeleton, the third, having vertebrae and a pelvis - MIWG 6352. IWCMS 2002.186, a mandible, vertebrae and limbs, is a 4th skeleton. Hutt (1990) described material thought to be *Megalosaurus* n. sp., but the specimen, MIWG 6352, was confused for a pubic bone. Thus, this diagnosis is probably incorrectTemplate:Cite. Hutt, Martill and Barker (1996) coined the name *N. salerii*. Hutt (1999) based his unpublished master thesis on *Neovenator*. Brusatte, Benson and Hutt (2008) redescribed *Neovenator* in great detail. In 2012, teeth indistinguishable from the *Neovenator* holotype were discovered in Angeac, France. These are Barremian-aged.

## Location

Fossil remains of *Neovenator* have been found on the Isle of Wight (southern England), and were first discovered in the 20th century. *Neovenator* existed alongside *Baryonyx*, *Polacanthus* and *Iguanadon* in the early Cretaceous period. It was one of the top predators of its day.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Neovenator is the only member of the Allosaur family to have lived in what is now Europe. This was a large, fierce meat-eater. Although Neovenator resembled Allosaurus, it did not look exactly like its distant North American cousin. It was lighter and faster than Allosaurus, and it had bigger teeth! Neovenator was definitely the ruler of Early Cretaceous England.

First discovered in 1978, it was nearly 20 years before the fossil bones were finally removed from the ground. Scientists were pleased to find a new carnivore that was 70% complete. This dinosaur provides important information about the food chain in Cretaceous Europe.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* Neovenator appeared in the Jurassic World toys.

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20040214171556fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_neove.html

## References

1. https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-vertebrate-paleontology/volume-30/issue-1/02724630903416092/The-Osteology-of-Neovenator-salerii-Dinosauria--Theropoda-from-the/10.1080/02724630903416092.short
2. ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724630903416092
3. ↑ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03671-3
4. ↑https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317648080\_Complex\_neuroanatomy\_in\_the\_rostrum\_of\_the\_Isle\_of\_Wight\_theropod\_Neovenator\_salerii
5. ↑ https://books.google.com.tr/books/about/Predatory\_Dinosaurs\_from\_the\_Isle\_of\_Wig.html?id=3KVkygAACAAJ&redir\_esc=y
6. ↑ https://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/things-to-do/attractions/dinosaurs-and-fossils/history
7. ↑https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpm/detail/1996/92309/The\_first\_European\_allosaurid\_dinosaur\_Lower\_Cretaceous\_Wealden\_Group\_England
8. ↑https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpm/detail/1996/92309/The\_first\_European\_allosaurid\_dinosaur\_Lower\_Cretaceous\_Wealden\_Group\_England
9. ↑ https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cretres.2012.01.006

1. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/paleofilescom/neovenator
2. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285969263\_The\_osteology\_of\_Neovenator\_salerii\_Dinosauria\_Theropoda\_from\_the\_Wealden\_Group\_Barremian\_of\_the\_Isle\_of\_Wight
3. ↑ https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-vertebrate-paleontology/volume-30/issue-1/02724630903416092/The-Osteology-of-Neovenator-salerii-Dinosauria--Theropoda-from-the/10.1080/02724630903416092.short
4. ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724630903416092
5. ↑ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03671-3
6. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317648080\_Complex\_neuroanatomy\_in\_the\_rostrum\_of\_the\_Isle\_of\_Wight\_theropod\_Neovenator\_salerii
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/TetZoo/status/1485676015875674117
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/TetZoo/status/1485676390066311169
9. ↑ https://books.google.com.tr/books/about/Predatory\_Dinosaurs\_from\_the\_Isle\_of\_Wig.html?id=3KVkygAACAAJ&redir\_esc=y
10. ↑ https://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/things-to-do/attractions/dinosaurs-and-fossils/history
11. ↑ https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpm/detail/1996/92309/The\_first\_European\_allosaurid\_dinosaur\_Lower\_Cretaceous\_Wealden\_Group\_England
12. ↑ https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpm/detail/1996/92309/The\_first\_European\_allosaurid\_dinosaur\_Lower\_Cretaceous\_Wealden\_Group\_England
13. ↑ https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cretres.2012.01.006