Viavenator

Name: Viavenator ‭(‬road hunter‭)‬.
Phonetic: Vy-ah-ven-ah-tor.
Named By: L.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Filippi,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Méndez,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Juárez Valieri‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Garrido‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Abelisauridae.
Species: V.‭ ‬exxoni‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly‭ ‬estimated at about‭ ‬5.5‭ ‬meters long for the holotype.
Known locations: Argentina‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bajo de la Carpa Formation.
Time period: Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeletal remains including,‭ ‬caudal,‭ ‬dorsal and cervical vertebrae,‭ ‬ribs and shoulder girdle.‭ ‬Fragmentary remains of the upper skull also known.



       Named in‭ ‬2016‭ ‬from a single specimen,‭ ‬Viavenator is another of the growing number of South American abelisaurid dinosaurs that are known to us.‭ ‬At a glance Viavenator does not seem to be anything special apart from being another abelisaur,‭ ‬however the authors of the paper describing this dinosaur have identified a combination of features within the known skeleton that indicate that Viavenator may actually be a transitional form,‭ ‬linking earlier abelisaurids of the Cenomanian and Turonian eras,‭ ‬with the later abelisaurids of the Campanian.‭
       Out of all the South American abelisaurids,‭ ‬Viavenator has been speculated to be more closely related to genera such as Carnotaurus,‭ ‬Abelisaurus,‭ ‬Aucasaurus,‭ ‬Pycnonemosaurus and Quilmesaurus.‭ ‬Like its relatives,‭ ‬Viavenator would have been a predator of other animals,‭ ‬and given the modest size of the holotype individual,‭ ‬a hunter of small to medium dinosaurs.




Further reading
-‭ ‬A new brachyrostran with hypertrophied axial structures reveals an unexpected radiation of latest Cretaceous abelisaurids.‭ ‬Cretaceous Research‭ ‬60:209-219.‭ ‬-‭ ‬L.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Filippi,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Méndez,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Juárez Valieri‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Garrido‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.



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