Outline: a typical theropod
Afrovenator
AF-roh-veh-NAY-tor
"African hunter"
- Lived
- 175 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- about 9 m (30 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Megalosauridae
- Found in
- Niger
- Named by
- Sereno et al. 1994
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
170 million years ago
Field notes
About Afrovenator
What it was like
Afrovenator was a two-legged meat eater about 9 meters (30 feet) long, a member of the megalosaurid family along with Megalosaurus and Torvosaurus. It had a long, low skull with blade-like teeth, strong arms with three clawed fingers, and a long tail for balance.
It is one of the few megalosaurids known from Africa, and its skeleton is fairly complete for a meat eater of its age.
Its world
Its fossils come from Niger, in the Tiourarén and Irhazer II formations. These rocks are usually dated to the Middle Jurassic, though their exact age is still debated. It lived beside the long-necked plant eaters Jobaria and Spinophorosaurus, which may have been among its prey.
How it was found
Sereno and colleagues named Afrovenator in 1994 after fieldwork in the desert of Niger. Two finds are known.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Megalosauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: P. C. Sereno, J. A. Wilson, and H. C. E. Larsson, D. B. Dutheil, H.-D. Sues. 1994. Early Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Sahara. Science 266(5183):267-271