Wiehenvenator

Name: Wiehenvenator ‭(‬Wiehengebirge hunter‭)‬.
Phonetic: Wy-hen-ven-ah-tor.
Named By: Oliver W.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Rauhut,‭ ‬Tom R.‭ ‬Hübner‭ & ‬Klaus-Peter Lanser‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurishcia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Megalosauridae,‭ ‬Megalosaurinae.
Species: W.‭ ‬albati‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be between‭ ‬8‭ ‬and‭ ‬9‭ ‬meters in length.
Known locations: Germany,‭ ‬Westphalia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ornatenton Formation.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and post cranial skeletal remains of a sub adult.




       Fossils of Wiehenvenator were first discovered in‭ ‬1998‭ ‬around the Wiehen Hills in Germany.‭ ‬When compared to some other theropod dinosaurs such as Allosaurus,‭ ‬these fossils were noted as being of a potentially huge size which led to estimates of up to fifteen metres in length being recorded in popular media for many years afterward.‭ ‬However as is often the case when people are more concerned with selling a headline,‭ ‬most of these reports were gross overestimates.
       These fossils got a fresh description in‭ ‬2016‭ ‬which saw them identified as a new genus called Wiehenvenator.‭ ‬This description came to establish Wiehenvenator as a megalosaurid theropod dinosaur‭ (‬relative of Megalosaurus‭)‬,‭ ‬with comparisons to genera such as Torvosaurus resulting in estimates of around eight to nine meters in length.‭ ‬The holotype individual of Wiehenvenator is also noted as being a subadult that was at least ten years old when it died,‭ ‬which means that fully grown adults may have been a little bit larger.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Middle Jurassic‭ (‬Callovian‭) ‬of north-western Germany:‭ ‬Implications for theropod evolution and faunal turnover in the Jurassic.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Palaeontologia Electronica‭ ‬19.2.26A:‭ ‬1-65.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Oliver W.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Rauhut,‭ ‬Tom R.‭ ‬Hübner‭ & ‬Klaus-Peter Lanser‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.



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