Lost photos solve mystery of 33ft dinosaur which was BLOWN UP in WW2

A DINOSAUR species has been discovered after scientists discovered photos of fossils that were blown up during World War 2.

Experts have called it an “exceptional” case, as the new beast becomes one one of the largest known land carnivores to ever roam the planet.

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The newly named species, Tameryraptor markgrafi, or “thief from the beloved land”, was 33ft long and walked in the sands of Egypt 95 million years ago.

The Tameryraptor fossils were first discovered by German scientists in 1914, but a bombing raid destroyed them in 1944, turning the impressive creature’s legacy to rubble.

Maximilian Kellermann, a doctoral student at the BSPG, told Live Science: “At first I was a bit confused when we found the new photos, and then I was super excited.

“The more we looked, the more differences we found.”

Initially, the fossils were thought to belong to a large theropod dinosaur called Carcharodontosaurus.

However, closer inspection decades later showed a prominent horn, an enlarged frontal brain and other features absent on other Carcharodontosaurus fossils.

The Egyptian fossils were first categorized by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer (1871-1952).

Stromer thought that fossils matched a dinosaur unearthed in Algeria that was only known by its teeth, according to the study released on Tuesday.

He named a new group, Carcharodontosaurus, to encompass both sets of fossils.

The Egyptian specimen was considered the prime example of the group.

Naming a new species of dinosaur rarely happens without experts seeing the fossils directly, but the team only had pictures to base their finding on.

After comparing the photos with Stromer’s descriptions, it became clear to the palaeontologists that these fossils didn’t belong in the Carcharodontosaurus group.

The study authors said that this was an “exceptional case.”

Over the years, palaeontologists have added more members of the Carcharodontosaurus group.

In the 1990s, a relatively complete carcharodontosaurid skull from Morocco became a prime example of the group.

The new genus, Tameryraptor, combines the ancient name for Egypt, “Ta-Mery,” or “promised land,” and raptor, which is Latin for “thief”.

The study also suggests that dinosaur life was actually was richer across North Africa than previously thought.

It is understood that more research is needed to better understand the dinosaurs that lived in the region.