In Images: A Ferocious Predatory Dinosaur in Europe

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Jawbone discovery

torvosaurus jawbone

(Image credit: Aart Wallen)

A 2014 paper has identified a new species of top predator from Europe. In 2003, an amateur paleontologist discovered part of a dinosaur jawbone in sediments near Lourinha, Portugal.

Huge teeth

torvosaurus skull

(Image credit: Octávio Mateus)

The fearsome creature had huge bladelike teeth and an elongated snout.

Torvosaurus?

skull reconstruction of Torvosaurus gurneyi

(Image credit: Simão Mateus)

The jawbone, shown here in a skull reconstruction was originally though to belong to Torvosaurus tanneri a predator found in North America.

Closer inspection

christophe hendrickx and octavio mateus

(Image credit: Mateus and Hendrickx)

But Christophe Hendrickx and Octavio Mateus, researchers at the Universade Nova de Lisboa, took a closer look and determined it was a new species.

Fearsome creature

torvosaurus menaces prey

(Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy)

The Torvosaurus gurneyi was likely a top land-based predator in its day, and may have hunted large herbivores.

Giant predator

torvosaurus and man together

(Image credit: Scott Hartman and Carol Abraczinskas, )

The Torvosaurus was one of the biggest land predators, and could reach 33 feet (10 meters) and weigh 4 to 5 tons.

Giant

(Image credit: Photograph © Julius T. Csotonyi (csotonyi.com). Image used with permission.)

Still, it was slightly smaller than Tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the predators.

Tia Ghose
Tia Ghose

Tia is the assistant managing editor and was previously a senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.