Skorpiovenator
Skorpiovenator ("scorpion hunter") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Turonian) Huincul Formation of Argentina. The sole species of Skorpiovenator, S. bustingorryi, was named in honour of Manuel Bustingorry, the late owner of the farm on which the type specimen was discovered. Formally described in 2009, the type specimen is one of the most complete and informative abelisaurids yet known, described from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton. A tibia fragment was assigned to Skorpiovenator in 2022.
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Body size
- Skull and dentition
- Postcranial skeleton
- Classification
- Palaeoecology
- See also
- References
Skorpiovenator ("scorpion hunter") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Turonian) Huincul Formation of Argentina. The sole species of Skorpiovenator, S. bustingorryi, was named in honour of Manuel Bustingorry, the late owner of the farm on which the type specimen was discovered. Formally described in 2009, the type specimen is one of the most complete and informative abelisaurids yet known, described from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton. A tibia fragment was assigned to Skorpiovenator in 2022.
Skorpiovenator was a fairly large abelisaurid. What is preserved of the type specimen measures in length. Based on the anatomy of close relatives, it may have been between long in life, and may have weighed a little under . Its skull was short and blunt, and somewhat resembled that of Carnotaurus. Its bone texture was rugose, even by the standards of other abelisaurids, which indicates the presence of large facial scales. The skull is also covered in small pits called foramina, which suggests a strong degree of facial sensitivity.