Abelisaurus: Research Database Abelisauridae · Late Cretaceous (~83-80 MYA) · Patagonia, Argentina Research Note: Abelisaurus is known from a single incomplete skull. Direct peer-reviewed studies specifically on Abelisaurus are limited. Findings below include verifiable research on Abelisaurus plus informed inferences from better-studied Abelisauridae relatives (Carnotaurus, Majungasaurus). Research Finding Status Grade Year Method Citation Impact Original … Read more
In Depth Based upon fossil remains first discovered in 1980, Xenotarsosaurus was named because of the complete fusion between the astragalus and calcaneum bones of the ankle, something that is quite unusual for a theropod dinosaur. At the time of the original description, the rear leg of Xenotarsosaurus was shown to share some similarities with … Read more
Mamenchisaurus: Research Database Euhelopodidae (Somphospondyli) · Late Jurassic (~160–150 MYA) · Asia — China (Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan Basin) Research Note: Mamenchisaurus was a giant sauropod from the Late Jurassic of China — famous for having the longest neck relative to body size of any known dinosaur, with a neck that could reach up … Read more
In Depth Although only fragmentary remains are known Ilokelesia has been identified as a basal abelisaurid. Like many South American dinosaurs, Ilokelesia had been named using the Mapuche language from a combination of the works ‘ilo’ (flesh) and ‘kelesio’ (lizard). Further Reading – A basal Abelisauria Novas, 1992 (Theropoda–Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. … Read more
In Depth Tralkasaurus was named from very partial fossil remains, so it is hard to be certain and the full life features of this dinosuar. At the time of discovery, what can be said is that Tralkasaurus seems to have been an abelisaurid theropod, and one that seems to have been smaller than most other … Read more
In Depth Thanos is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the Cretaceous. If the name is familiar, that is because this dinosaur is named after the character that appears in the Marvel comics universe. Further Reading - New record of abelisauroid theropods from the Bauru Group (Upper Cretaceous), S�o Paulo … Read more
In Depth Although officially named in 2003, the first confirmed remains of Rajasaurus were found in between 1982 and 1984 by Suresh Srivastava. However there is an outside chance that the first remains may have actually been discovered way back in 1923 with the naming of Lametasaurus. Lametasaurus though is now considered to ba a … Read more
Indosaurus: Research Database Abelisauridae (Theropoda) · Late Cretaceous (~70–66 MYA) · Asia — India (Lameta Formation) Research Note: Indosaurus was a large abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Lameta Formation of India. It provides important data on theropod diversity in the latest Cretaceous of the Indian subcontinent. Research Finding Status Grade Year Method … Read more
In Depth Niebla is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Though only known from partial remains, Niebla seems to have actually been quite a small abelisaurid dinosaur, perhaps only about half of the size of some of the larger abelisaurid dinosaurs that were also roaming around South … Read more
Quilmesaurus: Research Database Abelisauridae (Theropoda) · Late Cretaceous (~70-66 MYA) · South America — Argentina (Río Negro, Allen Formation) Research Note: Quilmesaurus was an abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina — one of the largest known theropods from South America and an important taxon for understanding abelisaurid evolution and diversity in the … Read more