Carnotaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Restoration of Carnotaurus sastrei. Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Family: Abelisauridae Subfamily: Carnotaurinae Tribe: Carnotaurini Genus: Carnotaurus Bonaparte, 1985
Species
C. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Saurischia (sɔːˈrɪskiə, from the Greek sauros ( σαυρος) meaning 'lizard' and ischion ( ισχιον) meaning 'hip joint' Theropods (ˈθɪərəpɒd theropoda /θiːˈrɒpədə/ 'beast feet' are a group of Bipedal Saurischian Dinosaurs Although they were primarily Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards" is a family (or Clade) of Ceratosaurian Theropod Dinosaurs Abelisaurids thrived Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the Theropod Dinosaur family Abelisauridae. Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the Theropod Dinosaur family Abelisauridae. José Fernando Bonaparte, PhD (b June 14, 1928) is an Argentine paleontologist who discovered a plethora of South American In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. sastrei Bonaparte, 1985 (type)

Carnotaurus (pronounced /ˌkɑrnoʊˈtɔrəs/ KAHR-noh-TAWR-us; meaning "meat-bull", referring to its distinct bull-like horns (Latin carne = flesh + Greek tauros = bull) was a large predatory dinosaur, with horns vaguely resembling a bull's. In biology a type is that which fixes a name to a Taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question a type may be a specimen Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family

Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, and was discovered by José F. Bonaparte, who has uncovered many other bizarre South American dinosaurs. Llao LLaojpg|thumb|250px| Lake Nahuel Huapi, near Bariloche, Argentina The Maastrichtian is the last stage of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era. Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England José Fernando Bonaparte, PhD (b June 14, 1928) is an Argentine paleontologist who discovered a plethora of South American South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a ^[1]

Contents 1 Description 2 In popular culture 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links

Description

Carnotaurus was a medium-sized theropod, about 9. 0 m (30 ft) in length, 3. 5 m (10 ft 7 in) tall at the hips, and weighing about 1,600 kg (1. 76 tons). The short ton ( S/T) is a unit of mass equal to 2000 lb (around 907 The most distinctive features of Carnotaurus are the two thick horns above the eyes, and the extremely reduced forelimbs with four fingers. A horn is a pointed projection of the Skin on the head of various Mammals consisting of a covering of horn ( Keratin and other Proteins Eyes are organs that detect Light, and send signals along the Optic nerve to the visual areas of the brain A finger is a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the Hands of Humans and other Primates Normally humans have five digits ^[2] It had a small skull, a thick chest, and a thin tail. The tail is the section at the rear end of an Animal 's Body; in general the term refers to a distinct flexible Appendage to the Torso. The eyes of the Carnotaurus faced forward, which is unusual in a dinosaur, and may indicate binocular vision and depth perception. Binocular vision is vision in which both Eyes are used together Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three Dimensions Although any animal capable of moving around its environment must be able to

There is a rather puzzling contrast between Carnotaurus’ deep, robust-looking skull and its shallow, slender lower jaw. So far no-one has worked out what this might imply about its methods of feeding. ^[3]

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 (see also feathered dinosaurs). The skin is the outer covering of living tissue of an animal (or plant Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering or Plumage, on Birds They are considered the most complex integumentary structures For the prehistoric gliding reptile see Coelurosauravus. Coelurosauria (sɨˌljʊərəˈsɔriə is defined as the clade containing all Theropod Theropods (ˈθɪərəpɒd theropoda /θiːˈrɒpədə/ 'beast feet' are a group of Bipedal Saurischian Dinosaurs Although they were primarily The realization that Dinosaurs are closely related to Birds raised the obvious possibility of feathered dinosaurs. Instead, the skin is lined with rows of bumps, which become larger toward the spine.

The type species Carnotaurus sastrei is the only known species. In Taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Its closest relatives include Aucasaurus (Argentina), Majungasaurus (Madagascar), and Rajasaurus (India). Aucasaurus was a Genus of medium-sized Theropod Dinosaur from Argentina that lived during the Santonian stage Majungasaurus (; meaning "Mahajanga lizard" is a Genus of Abelisaurid Theropod Dinosaur that lived in Madagascar Rajasaurus is a Genus of Abelisaurian Carnivorous Dinosaur with an unusual head crest first described by Chicago Together, these dinosaurs form the subfamily Carnotaurinae in the family Abelisauridae. In Biological classification, family ( Latin Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the Theropod Dinosaur family Abelisauridae. In Biological classification, family ( Latin Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards" is a family (or Clade) of Ceratosaurian Theropod Dinosaurs Abelisaurids thrived Among the carnotaurines, Carnotaurus is most closely related to Aucasaurus, and together these two genera form the tribe Carnotaurini. In Biology, a tribe &mdashor infrafamily&mdashis a Taxonomic rank between family and Genus. Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the Theropod Dinosaur family Abelisauridae.

In popular culture

Since the mid-1990s, Carnotaurus has been featured occasionally in the popular media. One of its earliest prominent roles in fiction was the 1995 sequel to Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton's The Lost World. Jurassic Park is a Science fiction Novel that was written by Michael Crichton and published in 1990. John Michael Crichton, ˈkraɪtən, (born October 23 1942 is an American author Film producer, Film director, Medical doctor, and Television producer The Lost World is a Techno-thriller Novel that was written by Michael Crichton and published in 1995 by Ballantine Books In the novel, Carnotaurus was portrayed as having the (completely fictional) ability to change its colour to blend into the background, like a chameleon or a cuttlefish. Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are squamates that belong to one of the best-known Lizard families Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida belonging to the Cephalopoda class (which also includes Squid, Octopuses ^[4] While it did not appear in the 1997 film adaptation of the novel, Carnotaurus subsequently appeared in numerous tie-ins to the Jurassic Park franchise, including several video games. Another prominent movie role for Carnotaurus came with the 2000 Walt Disney animated film Dinosaur, which featured two Carnotaurus attacking a large herd of herbivorous dinosaurs. Dinosaur is a Feature film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and released to Movie theatres in 2000. The Carnotaurus in the film were much larger than the real life animal, scaled up to proportions more closely resembling the giant theropod Tyrannosaurus. Tyrannosaurus ( or, meaning 'tyrant lizard' is a Genus of Theropod Dinosaur. In reality, Carnotaurus was even smaller than Iguanodon, the main dinosaur featured in the Disney picture. Iguanodon (ɪˈgwɑːnədɒn or /ɪˈgwænədɒn/ meaning " Iguana Tooth " is a Genus of Ornithopod Dinosaur ^[5]

Bibliography

• Bonaparte (1991). "The Gondwanian theropod families Abelisauridae and Noasauridae. " Historical Biology. An International Journal of Paleobiology, 5: 1-25.
• Lamanna, Martinez, and Smith (2002). "A definitive abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. " Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22: 58–69.

References

External links

• The bite of Carnotaurus at Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. [in Spanish]
• Gerardo V. Mazzetta, Adrián P. Cisilino & R. Ernesto Blanco. Mandible stress distribution during the bite in Carnotaurus sastrei Bonaparte, 1985 (Theropoda: Abelisauridae). (2004) Ameghiniana 41: 605-617. Buenos Aires.

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