Fossils Of The Largest Predatory Dinosaur Discovered In Germany

The scientists found fossils, which they called Minden Monster, of the largest predatory dinosaur in Germany. They also theorize that the discovery is an entirely new genus that belongs to a higher evolutionary grouping.

According to IFL Science, this large dinosaur, which dates to about 163 million years ago, in the Middle Jurassic, belongs to Megalosauridae, which is a family of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. From the fossils recovered---the fossilized teeth and fractured skeletal remains, the dinosaur was approximately between 8 and 10 meters in length and weighed over than 2 tons,according to Phys.Org.

#Jurassic monster is largest meat-eating #dinosaur found in #Germany#megalosauridaehttps://t.co/ifCCiSXMiO pic.twitter.com/iOnIzDhZWG

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According to the researchers, the creature was probably not fully grown when it died. They also thought that dinosaur lived on an island because the sea levels in the Middle Jurassic were higher and most parts of Central Europe were underwater. This region comprised of islands, which likely be the home of the range of apex predators, this includes Minden Monster or technically known as Wiehenvenator albati. The family of Megalosauridae is known as the earliest large carnivorous dinosaurs.

Oliver Rauhut, the lead author of the study and a paleontologist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Ludwig-Maximillian's the University of Munich said that all the major groups of predatory dinosaurs originated during this period. These include the tyrannosaurs---which, however, only gave rise to their really gigantic representatives some 80 million years later and the first direct ancestors of the birds.

The Megalosauridae became extinct when the Cretaceous period began 145 million years ago. They were replaced by other horrifying predators, which ruled the world for over 79 million years. On the other hand, all these predators were exterminated with the impact of the asteroid that annihilated them all.