Reexamination of a forgotten dinosaur bone in an Italian museum drawer is shedding new light on the size of an abelisaur, a carnivorous dinosaur that inhabited the planet around 95 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period. It also reveals how fearsome the creature was, stated a study published in the journal Peer J.

The study by researchers from Imperial College London, UK, suggested that the predator was more than 29 feet long and weighed more than two tons.

Alfio Chiarenza, a PhD student in paleontology at Imperial College London and an author of the study, found the femur while stumbling upon a drawer with some specimens. It had carnivorous dinosaur features, Chiarenza added.

During a presentation at the Museum of Geology and Paleontology in Palermo, Italy, the study author said that the museum curator listened to him and helped the research team to reexamine the ancient bone.

“This find confirms that at that time, in Africa, there was something particularly favorable for the existence of giant predatory dinosaurs. There is nothing comparable in modern world”, said Andrea Cau, a researcher from the University of Bologna and o-author of the study.

Chiarenza said ancient dinosaur bones can reveal a predator’s size and other information of it.

The forgotten bone belonged to abelisaur was studied by the research team. It was the largest abelisaur every discovered, said the study researchers. Before the new study, it was unknown that the predators could grow so large in the region, they added.

This particular femur was unearthed from the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco. It is a region known for the mysteries of Stromer’s Riddle. It is believed that dinosaurs roamed the region millions of years ago.