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sharp-clawed runner
Dracovenator
Say it like this: “DRAH-ko-VEN-uh-tuh”
Dracovenator regenti
Dracovenator ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic. Bones have been found in South Africa.
- When
- Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 2005 · Yates, A. M.
- Hip height
- 1.8 m · 6 ft
- Length
- 5.5–6.5 m · 18–21 ft
- Weight
- 250 kg · 551 lb
- Found in
- South Africa · Elliot
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Neotheropoda
The story in short
The genus Dracovenator dates to 2005, the year A. M. Yates described it. The name means “dragon hunter.”
Fossils referred to Dracovenator date to the Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian), roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago. Finds come from South Africa, including the Elliot Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Dracovenator at a length near 5.5–6.5 m, hips about 1.8 m high, and a body mass around 250 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Neotheropoda, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Cryolophosaurus
Cryolophosaurus ellioti
Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago
Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus wetherilli
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 201.4 to 184.2 million years ago
Dolichosuchus
Dolichosuchus cristatus
Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago