Thanos | |
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An artist's illustration of Thanos | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: | Theropoda |
Family: | †Abelisauridae |
Tribe: | †Carnotaurini |
Genus: | †Thanos Delcourt and Iori, 2018 |
Species: | †T. simonattoi |
Binomial name | |
†Thanos simonattoi Delcourt and Iori, 2018 |
Thanos (named for the well known Marvel villain) is a genus of carnivorous Brachyrostan Abelisaurid dinosaur that lived in Brazil during the Santonian stage of the late Cretaceous Period. It contains only a single species, Thanos Simonattoi, so far.
Description

a depiction of the abelisaurid by paeloartist Paulo Leite(point to the advanced leg anatomy of the animal)
The length of Thanos has been estimated at grow as much as; 5.5 to 6.5 meters (18–21 feet), making it a medium-sized theropod.
Despite the incompleteness of the material, a number of diagnostic features are present; a well-developed keel becoming wider and deeper posteriorly on the ventral surface; two lateral small foramina separated by a relatively wide wall on each lateral surface of the centrum; and well-developed and deep Prezygapophyseal Spinodiapophyseal fossae. In view of these features, Thanos species seem to be more derived than other Abelisaurids at the time.

Thanos in its natural habitat. Credit: Delcourt et Iori
Paleoecology
Thanos shared its environment with an undescribed larger theropod believed to be a Megaraptoran of which a vertebra, specimen MPMA 08–0003/94, has been found at Ibira. This would imply that Thanos was likely not the apex and/or dominant predator of its habitat.
Phylogeny
In Thanos Phylogenetic analysis, Delcourt and Lori (2018) recovered Thanos in a large polytomy with other Brachyrostrans within the Abelisauridae.
Other Wikis
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121003977
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344632280_An_Early_Cretaceous_theropod_dinosaur_from_Brazil_sheds_light_on_the_cranial_evolution_of_the_Abelisauridae
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329034485_A_new_Abelisauridae_Dinosauria_Theropoda_from_Sao_Jose_do_Rio_Preto_Formation_Upper_Cretaceous_of_Brazil_and_comments_on_the_Bauru_Group_fauna
- https://www.cinemablend.com/pop/2462094/avengers-thanos-has-a-real-life-dinosaur-named-after-him
- https://www.cbr.com/thanos-dinosaur-name/
- https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/thanos-dinosaur/
- https://cosmicbook.news/marvel-thanos-dinosaur
- https://www.flipscience.ph/prehistory/theropod-titan-new-dinosaur-named-after-marvels-thanos/
- https://www.mindat.org/taxon-P379317.html
- https://medium.com/prehistoric-tales/the-rulers-of-the-cretaceous-south-31423abe7b49
- https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/en/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=202002289877342069