Taurovenator is a carcharodontosaurid from late cretaceous Argentina. The tauro~ prefix in the generic name Taurovenator comes from the Latin taurus, meaning "bull", and venator meaning "hunter". The specific name honors Enzo Violante, the owner of the Violante farm where the animal was discovered.
Discovery[]
The remains of Taurovenator were discovered in a layer of the Huincul Formation of Río Negro Province, Argentina, by Matías Motta in 2005. Taurovenator was found alongside the megaraptoran Aoniraptor and indeterminate remains of other Carcharodontosauridae, as well as abelisauroids and Paraves. This diverse assemblage of theropods was part of the Huincul Formation in Neuquén Province. They shared this environment with Mapusaurus, Argentinosaurus, Bustingorrytitan, Sidersaura, Choconsaurus, Cathartesaura, Limaysaurus, Chucarosaurus, Meraxes, Gualicho,Skorpiovenator, Tralkasaurus, Illokelesia, Huinculsaurus and Overoraptor.
Classification[]
Many individuals of the paleontologic community consider Taurovenator to be an invalid genus and instead an individual synonymized with Mapusaurus.
