Afrovenator

Afrovenator was a theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of northern Africa. It was a bipedal meat-eating predator with long bladelike teeth. Fossils have been found in Abaka, Niger in the southern Sahara desert. A nearly complete Afrovenator was found in 1993. It is one of the most complete dinosaurs found in Africa so far.[1]

Afrovenator
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic 167โ€“161 Ma
Known parts of skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Superorder:
Dinosauria
Order:
Saurischia
Suborder:
Theropoda
Family:
Megalosauridae
Genus:
Afrovenator

Sereno et al., 1994
Life restoration of A. abakensis

The rocks where it was found were redescribed as "mid-Jurassic" after the discovery had been announced.[2]

It is in a group of theropods which are known as the Megalosaurs.

References
  1. Sereno P.C. et al 1994. Early Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Sahara. Science 266 : 267-270
  2. Rauhut and Lopez-Arbarello 2009. Considerations on the age of the Tiouaren Formation (Iullemmeden Basin, Niger, Africa): implications for Gondwanan Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate faunas. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 271: 259-267.


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