NAME

Meaning - Abelisaurus means “Abel’s lizard,” named to honor Roberto Abel, director of the Argentinian Museum of Natural Science
Pronounced - ah-BEL-i-SAWR-us
Named By - J. F. Bonaparte and F. E. Novas
When Named - 1985
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater) - it ate plant-eating dinosaurs.
SIZE

Length - 21 to 26 feet (6.5 to 7.9 m) long
Height - 6.6 ft (2 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 1.4 tons

WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 75-70 million years ago

WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Rio Negro Province, Argentina, South America.
FOSSILS

Abelisaurus is known from a single skull that is 33 inches (85 cm) long.

CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
  • Family Neoceratosauria
  • Genus Abelisaurus
  • Species A. comahuensis (type species named by Bonaparte and Novas, 1985)
INTERESTING FACTS

Abelisaurus was a primitive theropod (meat-eating dinosaur) with a big head, a rounded snout, and relatively small teeth.