The fossil, destroyed in an air raid 80 years ago, had faded from memory until a paleontologist found archival images.

SNSB and LMU Paleontologists have identified a new species of predatory dinosaur from the Cretaceous period in North Africa, about 95 million years old. What makes this discovery so special is that the original fossil from Egypt was completely destroyed 80 years ago,

A new species of predatory dinosaur that lived in North Africa 95 million years ago has been identified—some 80 years after the only specimen was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. Researchers from Germany discovered previously unknown photos of the lost specimen that allowed them to reassess the original classification of the species.

World War II brought devastation to Munich in 1944. Allied bombings destroyed the museum, and with it, the irreplaceable dinosaur fossil.