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sharp-clawed runner
Afrovenator
Say it like this: “AF-ro-vee-NAY-tor”
Afrovenator abakensis
Afrovenator ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic. Bones have been found in Niger.
- When
- Middle Jurassic (Bathonian · Callovian) · roughly 168.2 to 161.5 million years ago
- Named in
- 1994 · Sereno, P. C.; Wilson, J. A.; Larsson, H. C. E.; Dutheil, D. B.; Sues, H. D.
- Hip height
- 1.9 m · 6 ft
- Length
- 9 m · 30 ft
- Weight
- 0.5–1 tonnes
- Found in
- Niger · Tiourarén
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Afrovenatorinae
The story in short
In 1994, P. C. Sereno and colleagues published the name Afrovenator. The name means “african hunter.”
It lived in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian · Callovian), roughly 168.2 to 161.5 million years ago. Finds come from Niger, including the Tiourarén Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Afrovenator at a length near 9 m, hips about 1.9 m high, and a body mass around 0.5–1 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Afrovenatorinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Dubreuillosaurus
Dubreuillosaurus valesdunensis
Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago
Leshansaurus
Leshansaurus qianweiensis
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
Magnosaurus
Magnosaurus nethercombensis
Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) · roughly 170.9 to 168.2 million years ago