Open Paleo

Neovenator

Hutt et al., 1996 NEE-oh-ve-NAY-tor

From Latin neo- ('new') and venator ('hunter'), meaning 'new hunter'

125.8–121.4 million years ago Barremian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Neovenator is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur. It is known primarily from several skeletons found in the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Barremian) Wessex Formation on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, southern England. The first remains of Neovenator were discovered in 1978 alongside those of the ornithopod Brighstoneus, after the collapse of part of Grange Chine. In 1996, Steve Hutt, David Martill and Michael Barker named the genus Neovenator. One species is known: the type species, N. salerii, after the Salero family who owned the site on which its remains were discovered.

Under dispute

Most analyses recover Neovenator salerii in Carcharodontosauria, as its earliest member (Brusatte and colleagues 2008), as the sister of Carcharodontosauridae (Aranciaga Rolando and colleagues 2024), or with Chilantaisaurus in Neovenatoridae (Carrano and colleagues 2012; Rauhut and colleagues 2024), a clade that once also held the megaraptorans, now mostly placed in Coelurosauria. Kellermann and colleagues (2025) recover Carcharodontosauria under some weightings only, finding Neovenator elsewhere lower in Allosauroidea, and Apesteguía and colleagues (2016) once recovered it outside Allosauroidea, a result they call in need of further testing. It is placed at Allosauroidea incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Premaxilla with an accessory peg-and-socket interpremaxillary articulation in the dorsal symphyseal region
  2. Maxilla with an enlarged maxillary fenestra about one-sixth the length of the maxillary tooth row
  3. Scapulocoracoid glenoid fossa wider mediolaterally than long anteroposteriorly
  4. Distal ischial boot with the left and right ischia conjoined anteriorly but diverging posterolaterally
  5. Femoral head oriented anteromedially and inclined proximally
  6. Thumbprint-shaped depression on the posterior femoral shaft lateral to the proximal end of the fourth trochanter
  7. Robust suboval ridge on the external surface of the lesser trochanter of the femur

Species

Neovenator salerii Hutt et al., 1996

Type species

Named for the Salero family, who owned the land on the Isle of Wight where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
MIWG 6348, BMNH R10001 , Dinosaur Isle Museum
Material
Partial skeleton with premaxillae, maxilla, nasal, palatine, dentary, teeth, cervical to caudal vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, scapula, coracoid, ilia, pubes, ischia, femora, tibiae, and pedal elements.
Notes
Holotype individual dual-numbered — cranial and limb elements MIWG 6348 (Dinosaur Isle), vertebrae and pelvis BMNH R10001 (NHM London).
Horizon
L9 Bed, Wessex Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Grange Chine, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom

References

  1. Hutt, S.; Martill, D. M.; Barker, M. J. (1996). The first European allosaurid dinosaur (Lower Cretaceous, Wealden Group, England). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte 1996(10): 635-644. Schweizerbart. doi:10.1127/njgpm/1996/1996/635 hutt1996a
  2. Brusatte, S. L.; Benson, R. B. J.; Hutt, S. (2008). The osteology of Neovenator salerii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Wealden Group (Barremian) of the Isle of Wight. Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society 162(631): 1-166. doi:10.1080/25761900.2008.12452864

    Comprehensive osteological monograph of the holotype with a formal diagnosis; recovers Neovenator as the basalmost carcharodontosaurid.

    brusatte2008a
  3. Carrano, M. T.; Benson, R. B. J.; Sampson, S. D. (2012). The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10(2): 211-300. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927

    Recovers Carcharodontosauria as Carcharodontosauridae plus Neovenatoridae, with Neovenator in the latter.

    carrano2012a
  4. Rauhut, O. W. M.; Bakirov, A. A.; Wings, O.; Fernandes, A. E.; Hübner, T. R. (2024). A new theropod dinosaur from the Callovian Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 201(4). Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae090

    Recovers a Neovenatoridae of Neovenator and Chilantaisaurus within Allosauria.

    rauhut2024a
  5. Tanaka, K.; Anvarov, O. U. O.; Zelenitsky, D. K.; Ahmedshaev, A. S.; Kobayashi, Y. (2021). A new carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur occupies apex predator niche in the early Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan. Royal Society Open Science 8(9). The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rsos.210923

    Recovers Neovenator within Carcharodontosauria in both of its analyses.

    tanaka2021a
  6. Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Motta, M. J.; Agnolín, F. L.; Tsuihiji, T.; Miner, S.; Brissón Egli, F.; Novas, F. E. (2024). A new carcharodontosaurid specimen sheds light on the anatomy of South American giant predatory dinosaurs. The Science of Nature 111(6): 56. doi:10.1007/s00114-024-01942-4

    Recovers Neovenator as the sister of Carcharodontosauridae (supplementary information).

    aranciagarolando2024a
  7. Kellermann, M.; Cuesta, E.; Rauhut, O. W. M. (2025). Re-evaluation of the Bahariya Formation carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and its implications for allosauroid phylogeny. PLOS ONE 20(1): e0311096. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311096

    Recovers Carcharodontosauria under some weightings only; under the others Neovenator falls lower in Allosauroidea with Chilantaisaurus.

    kellermann2025a
  8. Apesteguía, S.; Smith, N. D.; Juárez Valieri, R. D.; Makovicky, P. J. (2016). An Unusual New Theropod with a Didactyl Manus from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. PLOS ONE 11(7): e0157793. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157793

    Recovers Neovenator outside Allosauroidea, near coelurosaurs, after modifying the matrix, and calls the result in need of further testing.

    apesteguía2016a
  9. Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Motta, M. J.; Agnolín, F. L.; Manabe, M.; Tsuihiji, T.; Novas, F. E. (2022). A large Megaraptoridae (Theropoda: Coelurosauria) from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Patagonia, Argentina. Scientific Reports 12(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-09272-z

    Places the megaraptorans, once grouped with Neovenator, in Coelurosauria.

    aranciagarolando2022a