Torvosaurus
Sign in to saveTorvosaurus () is a genus of large megalosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 146.5 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle and Late Jurassic period in what is now Colorado, Portugal, Germany, and possibly England, Spain, Tanzania, and Uruguay. It contains two currently recognized species, Torvosaurus tanneri and Torvosaurus gurneyi, plus a third unnamed species from Germany.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Description
- Systematics and classification
- Distinguishing anatomical features
- Paleobiology
- Paleoecology
- Provenance and occurrence
- Fauna and habitat in North America
- Fauna and habitat in Europe
- Fauna and habitat in Africa
- Fauna and habitat in South America
- Coexistence with other large carnivores
- References
- External links
Torvosaurus () is a genus of large megalosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 146.5 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle and Late Jurassic period in what is now Colorado, Portugal, Germany, and possibly England, Spain, Tanzania, and Uruguay. It contains two currently recognized species, Torvosaurus tanneri and Torvosaurus gurneyi, plus a third unnamed species from Germany.
In 1979, the type species Torvosaurus tanneri was named. Measuring around long and weighing approximately , T. tanneri was among the largest terrestrial carnivores in North America during the Late Jurassic. Specimens of Torvosaurus gurneyi were measured up to in length and in body mass, suggesting that it was much larger than T. tanneri and was the largest terrestrial carnivore in Europe during the Late Jurassic. Based on bone morphology, Torvosaurus is thought to have had very powerful short arms.