A reappraisal of Thecocoelurus daviesi (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight

An incomplete cervical vertebra of a theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England, first described by Seeley in 1888 and made the type of Thecocoelurus daviesi, shows features unique to the oviraptorosaur-therizinosauroid clade of coelurosaurian theropods. It differs from the cervical vertebrae of therizinosauroids and closely resembles those of the caenagnathid oviraptorosaur Chirostenotes. If this identification is correct, this specimen is, with the exception of a problematical small femur and some Spanish eggshell fragments, Europe's first reported member of the oviraptorosaur-therizinosauroid clade and also one of the oldest representatives of the clade. Comparison of the specimen with the cervical vertebrae of other theropods indicates that it came from a large animal compared to most other oviraptorosaurs.