A definitive allosauroid (Dinosauria; Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of East Sussex

A partial proximal tibia (estimated total length of tibia 550 mm) from a large theropod was discovered in the Samuel Beckles collection of Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, East Sussex. It was probably collected from the Hastings Group of the Wealden Supergroup. Derived character states show that it can be referred to the Allosauroidea but it is more robust than are the tibiae of Neovenator salerii, the only well-known Wealden allosauroid, and the two differ in the morphology of the fibular crest, cnemial crest and proximal articular condyles. The Hastings specimen, therefore, probably belongs to another Wealden allosauroid, possibly Becklespinax altispinax (a taxon based on dorsal vertebrae). Large theropod material from the Hastings Group has been reported before but generally lacks characters that allow it to be identified beyond Tetanurae.