| Skorpiovenator Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
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| An artist's illustration of Skorpiovenator bustingorryi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Genus: | †Skorpiovenator Canale et al., 2008 |
| Species: | †S. bustingorryi |
| Binomial name | |
| Skorpiovenator bustingorryi Canale et al., 2008 | |
Skorpiovenator is an extinct genus of large abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was described by Canale, Scanferla, Agnolin and Novas in 2009. It is known from only one nearly complete specimen, missing only most of the forelimbs and parts of the tail.
Description[]
Skorpiovenator was a 6 meter (20 feet) long abelisaurid that inhabited the Huincul Formation of Argentina, contemporary of the carcharodontosaurid Mapusaurus, another abelisaurid named Ilokelesia, and a giant titanosaurian sauropod named Argentinosaurus.
Skorpiovenator's appearance from Planet Dinosaur
This dinosaur was named not for its diet, but for its specimen being surrounded by a bustling colony of scorpions. Like its relatives, such as Carnotaurus, Skorpiovenator had a short, deep and robust skull, which was a characteristic trait for abelisaurids, along with very short arms that likely did not serve many purposes other than being possibly used for display.
In popular culture[]
- Skorpiovenator makes an appearance in BBC Planet Dinosaur, claimed as a nest raider that would occasionally feed on eggs from Argentinosaurus. It is later shown scavenging the carcass of a fully grown Argentinosaurus, returning from time to time while the Mapusaurus were having their fill.
Gallery[]
