Australovenator
Australovenator is a medium-sized theropod dinosaur that lived in Australia about 100 million years ago.
| Australovenator Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | †Megaraptora |
| Family: | †Megaraptoridae |
| Genus: | †Australovenator Hocknull et al. 2009 |
| Species: | †A. wintonensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Australovenator wintonensis Hocknull et al. 2009
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The fossil bones of the dinosaur were found at an ancient billabong near Winton, Queensland. Scientists have called it Banjo, after the famous Australian poet, Banjo Patterson.[1] Patterson wrote the song "Waltzing Matilda" after a visit to Winton in 1885.[1]
The dinosaur was discovered in 2006, with several others, such as the Middle Cretaceous Diamantinasaurus and the Early Cretaceous Wintonotitan.[2] It was the most complete theropod skeleton to be found in Australia, as of 2009.[1]
Description
changeAustralovenator was a medium-sized, fast, carnivorous dinosaur with three large, sharp claws on each hand. It stood about two meters tall.[3] Dinosaur expert Scott Hocknull described Australovenator as being like a cheetah.[2] The Australovenator was indeed the lion of the Cretaceous.
A phylogenetic analysis found Australovenator to be an allosaurid carnosaur.[1] More studies showed it formed a clade with several other carcharodontosaurid-like allosaurs, the Neovenatoridae.[4]
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hocknull, Scott A.; et al. (2009). "New mid-Cretaceous (latest Albian) dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia". PLOS ONE. 4 (7): e6190. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006190. PMC 2703565. PMID 19584929.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | New dinosaurs found in Australia". news.bbc.co.uk. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "Three new dinosaurs found in western Queensland". brisbanetimes.com.au. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ Benson R.B.J.; et al. (2010). "A new clade of archaic large-bodied predatory dinosaurs (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) that survived to the latest Mesozoic". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (1): 71–78. Bibcode:2010NW.....97...71B. doi:10.1007/s00114-009-0614-x. PMID 19826771. S2CID 22646156.