Timeline of ceratosaur researchThis timeline of ceratosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ceratosaurs, a group of relatively primitive, often horned, predatory theropod dinosaurs that became the apex predators of the southern hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous. The nature and taxonomic composition of the Ceratosauria has been controversial since the group was first distinguished in the late . In 1884 Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species Ceratosaurus nasicornis from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States.
AbelisauridaeAbelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian subcontinent and the island of Madagascar. Isolated teeth were found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, and the Late Cretaceous genera Tarascosaurus and Arcovenator have been described in France.
AbelisauroideaAbelisauroidea is typically regarded as a Cretaceous group, though the earliest abelisaurid remains are known from the Middle Jurassic of Argentina (classified as the species Eoabelisaurus mefi) and possibly Madagascar (fragmentary remains of an unnamed species) possible abelisauridae remains (an isolated left tibia, right femur, and right tibia) were also discovered in Late Jurassic Tendaguru Beds in Tanzania.
MajungasaurusMajungasaurus (məˌdʒʌŋɡəˈsɔːrəs; Mahajanga lizard) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, making it one of the last known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The genus contains a single species, Majungasaurus crenatissimus. This dinosaur is also called Majungatholus, a name which is considered a junior synonym of Majungasaurus.
EoabelisaurusEoabelisaurus (ˈiəʊəˌbɛlᵻˈsɔːrəs) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in Argentina, South America. The generic name combines a Greek ἠώς, (eos), "dawn", with the name Abelisaurus, in reference to the fact it represents an early relative of the latter. Only one species is currently recognized, E. mefi; the specific name honours the MEF, the Museo Paleontológico "Egidio Feruglio", where discoverer Diego Pol is active.
ArcovenatorArcovenator ("Arc hunter") is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs hailing from the Late Cretaceous of France. The type and only described species is Arcovenator escotae. Though shallower, the nearly complete braincase of Arcovenator is otherwise similar in size to those of Majungasaurus and Carnotaurus; it was thus initially estimated as being about long, but it was estimated in 2016 as being in length.
IndosaurusIndosaurus (Indian lizard) is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now India, about 69 to 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian division of the Late Cretaceous. The species I. matleyi weighed roughly 700 kg (1540 lb). The type species, Indosaurus matleyi, was named by Huene and Matley in 1933 making Indosaurus the first Majungasaurine to be discovered. The generic name refers to India and the specific name honours Matley.
AbelisaurusAbelisaurus (əˌbɛlᵻˈsɔːrəs; "Abel's lizard") is a genus of predatory abelisaurid theropod dinosaur alive during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian) of what is now South America. It was a bipedal carnivore that probably reached about in length, although this is uncertain as it is known from only one partial skull. Coining the type species Abelisaurus comahuensis, both genus and species were named and described by Argentine paleontologists José Bonaparte and Fernando Emilio Novas in 1985.
CeratosaurusCeratosaurus ˌsɛrətoʊ-ˈsɔːrəs (from Greek κέρας/κέρατος, keras/keratos meaning "horn" and σαῦρος sauros meaning "lizard") was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages). The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete skeleton discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in rocks belonging to the Morrison Formation. The type species is Ceratosaurus nasicornis.
