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Abelisaurids
Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (biology), family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous Period (geology), period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian subcontinent and the island of Madagascar. Isolated teeth were found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, and the Late Cretaceous genera ''Tarascosaurus'', ''Arcovenator'' and ''Caletodraco'' have been described in France. Abelisaurids possibly first appeared during the Jurassic period based on fossil records, and some genera survived until the end of the Mesozoic era, around . Like most theropods, abelisaurids were carnivore, carnivorous bipeds. They were characterized by stocky hind limbs and extensive ornamentation of the skull bones, with grooves and pits. In many abelisaurids, such as ''Carnotaurus'', the forelimbs are vest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratosauria
Ceratosaurs are members of the clade Ceratosauria, a group of dinosaurs defined as all theropods sharing a more recent common ancestor with '' Ceratosaurus'' than with birds. The oldest known ceratosaur, '' Saltriovenator'', dates to the earliest part of the Jurassic, around 199 million years ago. Ceratosauria includes three major clades: Ceratosauridae, Noasauridae, and Abelisauridae, found primarily (though not exclusively) in the Southern Hemisphere. Originally, Ceratosauria included the above dinosaurs plus the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Coelophysoidea and Dilophosauridae, implying a much earlier divergence of ceratosaurs from other theropods. However, most recent studies have shown that coelophysoids and dilophosaurids do not form a natural group with other ceratosaurs, and are excluded from this group. Ceratosauria derives its names from the type species, '' Ceratosaurus nasicornis'', described by O.C. Marsh in 1884. A moderately large predator from the Late Jura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Majungasaurus Crenatissimus
''Majungasaurus'' (; ) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, making it one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The genus contains a single species, ''Majungasaurus crenatissimus''. This dinosaur is also called ''Majungatholus'', a name which is considered a junior synonym of ''Majungasaurus''. Like other abelisaurids, ''Majungasaurus'' was a bipedal predator with a short snout. Although the forelimbs are not completely known, they were very short, while the hind limbs were longer and very stocky. Measuring around long and weighing more than , it can be distinguished from other abelisaurids by its wider skull, the very rough texture and thickened bone on the top of its snout, and the single rounded horn on the roof of its skull, which was originally mistaken for the dome of a pachycephalosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kryptops
''Kryptops'' (meaning "covered face") is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. It is known from a partial maxilla (upper jaw bone) found at the Gadoufaoua locality in the western Ténéré Desert, in rocks of the Aptian–Albian-age Elrhaz Formation. The fossils were collected in 2000 by a University of Chicago expedition to Niger led by American paleontologist Paul Sereno. They were then described in 2008 by Sereno and Stephen L. Brusatte, Steve Brusatte. The genus contains a monotypic taxon, single species, ''Kryptops palaios''. Sereno and Brusatte referred several Postcranium, postcranial remains to ''Kryptops'', but later studies have shown that these elements belong to an allosauroid theropod, leaving ''Kryptops'' to be only known from the incomplete maxilla. ''Kryptops'' is one of the oldest known members of the Abelisauridae, making it vital to understanding this family's evolution. Its length is estimated to be around , mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
