Abelisaurus

Abelisaurus; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 80 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Reconstruction of the Abelisaurus skull with original bones of the holotype. Scale = 10 cm
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Abelisauridae
Clade:	†Brachyrostra
Tribe:	†Carnotaurini
Genus:	†Abelisaurus; Bonaparte & Novas, 1985
Type species
	†Abelisaurus comahuensis; Bonaparte & Novas, 1985
Synonyms
	?Aucasaurus Coria, Chippe and Dingus, 2002

Abelisaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. They lived in South America during the Upper Cretaceous period. There is one species in the genus Abelisaurus comahuensis.

Abelisaurus was the first abelisaurid that people found. The family, the Abelisauridae, is named after Abelisaurus'. Abelisaurus is the type genus. Despite this, scientists do not know much about how the dinosaur lived.

The only fossils found so far are several skull bones. People found them in Argentina. Scientists put them back together in a lab to create a skull. The skull is similar to that of other members of its family. Like most abelisaurs, it is blunt and short in length, but tall from top to bottom. Abelisaurus probably ate large sauropod dinosaurs, such as Amargasaurus. Scientists think Abelisaurus hunted in packs. It may also have hunted smaller plant-eating dinosaurs, such as the small ornithopod Gasparinisaura.^[1]^[2]

References

↑ Bonaparte, J.; Novas, E.E. (1985). "Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia" [Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia]. Ameghiniana. 21: 259–265 – via ResearchGate.
↑ Gianechini, Federico A.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Landini, Walter; Finotti, Franco; Juárez Valieri, Rubén; Zandonai, Fabiana (2015-05-01). "New abelisaurid remains from the Anacleto Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Patagonia, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 54: 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.11.009. hdl:11336/37727. ISSN 0195-6671.

[:0-1] Bonaparte, J.; Novas, E.E. (1985). "Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia" [Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia]. Ameghiniana. 21: 259–265 – via ResearchGate.

[2] Gianechini, Federico A.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Landini, Walter; Finotti, Franco; Juárez Valieri, Rubén; Zandonai, Fabiana (2015-05-01). "New abelisaurid remains from the Anacleto Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Patagonia, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 54: 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.11.009. hdl:11336/37727. ISSN 0195-6671.

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