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Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus


Carnotaurus, it's name meaning "meat (eating)-bull", referring to its distinct bull-like horns was a large predatory dinosaur, with horns vaguely resembling a bull's. Only one species, Carnotaurus sastrei has been described so far.

Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina (La Colonia Formation) during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, and was discovered by José F. Bonaparte, who has uncovered many other South American dinosaurs.

Carnotaurus was a large theropod, about 9.0 m (30 ft) in length, 3 m tall at the hips, and weighing about 1,600 kg (1.76 tons). The most distinctive features of Carnotaurus are the two thick horns above the eyes, and the extremely reduced forelimbs with four fingers. It is also characterized by its unusually long neck (compared to other theropods), and its small head with box-shaped jaws. The eyes of Carnotaurus faced forward, which is unusual in a dinosaur, and may indicate binocular vision and depth perception.

A single nearly complete skeleton has been described including impressions of skin along almost the entire right side, that show Carnotaurus lacked feathers, unlike the more advanced coelurosaurian theropods. Instead, the skin is lined with rows of bumps, which become larger toward the spine.

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