Afrovenator abakensis

Afrovenator is known from a single nearly complete skeleton including a partial skull from the Middle Jurassic of Niger. The Tiouraren Formation in which Afrovenator was found was originally thought to be Early Cretaceous but new studies indicate it is Middle Jurassic.

Name

Afrovenator abakensis

Authority

Sereno, Wilson, Larsson, Dutheil and Sues, 1994

Meaning of generic name

African Hunter

Meaning of specific name

“The specific name refers to Abaka, the Tuareg name for the region of Niger where the fossil was found.” Tuareg for Agadez, then?

Size

Skull length: 90 cm, Length: 9 m

Remains

Holotype (UC UBA 1): Nearly complete skeleton.

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Tiourarén Formation. Middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Oxfordian)

[Formerly classified as Early Cretaceous!]

Type locality: Department of Agadez, Niger

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Spinosauroidea Megalosauridae

Further Reading

P. C. Sereno, J. A. Wilson, H. C. E. Larsson, D. B. Dutheil, and H.-D. Sues. 1994. Early Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Sahara. Science 266(5183):267-271.

Images

By Nobu Tamura March 2, 2013

September 26, 2008, by Nobu Tamura