Genus
Valid Extinct

Carnotaurus

Bonaparte 1985
Etymology Taureau carnivore

Carnotaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, between 69 and 66 million years ago. The only species is Carnotaurus sastrei. Known from a single well-preserved skeleton, it is one of the best-understood theropods from the Southern Hemisphere. The skeleton, found in 1984, was uncovered in the Chubut Province of Argentina from rocks of the La Colonia Formation. Carnotaurus is a derived member of the Abelisauridae, a group of large theropods that occupied the large predatorial niche in the southern landmasses of Gondwana during the late Cretaceous. Within the Abelisauridae, the genus is often considered a member of the Brachyrostra, a clade of short-snouted forms restricted to South America.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Carnotaurus
click to enlarge
Carnotaurus in Chlupáč museum in Prague © Carnotaurus, Chlupáč Museum, Prague-2.jpg: Czech Wikipedia user Packa derivative work: Hic et nunc · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Ceratosauria Suborder
Abelisauridae Family
Brachyrostra Unranked clade
Furileusauria Unranked clade
Carnotaurus Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇷 Argentina
1
Geological formations
La Colonia
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Carnotaurus sastrei 72 Ma
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
J. F. Bonaparte. 1985. A horned Cretaceous carnosaur from Patagonia. National Geographic Research 1(1):149-151
Bibliography (1)
J. F. Bonaparte. 1985. A horned Cretaceous carnosaur from Patagonia. National Geographic Research 1(1):149-151