In Depth 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 … Read more
In Depth While Carnotaurus had the standard theropod morphology of a bipedal animal with large head and small arms, it still possessed a number of features that made it quite unique among the large theropods. One such feature is the arms, which are not just small like you would expect, but are positively tiny. Further … Read more
In Depth To date Ekrixinatosaurus is without doubt one of the largest abelisaurid theropods that we currently know about, and even at the lower estimate of ten meters long, Ekrixinatosaurus was still bigger than the far more famous Carnotaurus which at the time of writing seems to have had a maximum size of nine meters … Read more
In Depth Although still often regarded as a valid genus, Indosuchus is considered by some to be a nomen dubium. This is because in 1933 Charles Matley and Friedrich von Huene not only named Indosuchus, but also Indosaurus and Compsosuchus, also from partial remains. Many palaeontologists consider these three genera to possibly be the same … Read more
In Depth Rugops, meaning ‘wrinkle face’, is an interesting name for a carnivorous dinosaur. This name comes from the numerous impressions in the skull bone from large blood vessels that once ran across the bone surface leaving a wrinkled appearance. It is thought that these extra vessels were here to provide additional oxygenated blood to … Read more
In Depth Discovered in 2009 and described in 2012, Eoabelisaurus was a ground breaking discovery in our understanding of the abelisaurid theropods. So far most abelisaurids are known from the later stages of the Cretaceous period, yet the holotype Eoabelisaurus has been confidently assigned to the early stages of the Mid Jurassic. Also at around … Read more
In Depth Kryptops is a little known genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa during the Early Cretaceous. At the time of the original description in 2008, Kryptops was considered to be the most primitive known abelisaurid. Kryptops was described from a partial maxilla (main and posterior tooth bearing bone in the … Read more
In Depth Chenanisaurus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in North Africa towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Chenanisaurus is named from the description of a partial lower jaw, and while this does not give us much to go on, it does reveal a few things. While the jaw is incomplete, it … Read more
In Depth This large abelisaurid roamed ancient Patagonia where it may have competed with other predatory dinosaurs like the contempory carcharodontosaurid Mapusaurus. Skorpiovenator shares the same characteristic short but high skull morphology, and may not have had a large bite force, as has been suggested for some other abelisaurids. Skorpiovenator may have used its deep … Read more
In Depth With only the end of the tail missing, Aucasaurus has the most complete single abelisaurid skeleton currently known. This has allowed for more accurate general features which are thought to be common to the group such as the famously underdeveloped arms that are even more puny than those that appear upon Tyrannosaurus, to … Read more