(ANSA) - Milan, December 19 - The oldest large predator dinosaur in the world was Italian, palaeontologists said Wednesday.

The young ceratosaur that lived 200 million years ago, whose scientific name is Saltriovenator zanellai, roamed the plains of what is now Lombardy, they said.

Almost eight metres long and weighing in at around a tonne, Saltriovenator had dagger-sharp teeth and steel-strong claws.

"It was a real war machine," said palaeontologists Cristiano Dal Sasso, Simone Maganuco and Andrea Cau, presenting the find at Milan's Palazzo Reale.

The predator was the first Italian dinosaur of the Jurassic age and the only dinosaur found in Lombardy.

Saltriovenator is a new species that backdates by 25 million years the appearance of the great predator dinosaurs, the palaeontologists said.

