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Abelisauridae (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.
Though it resembles carnotaurine abelisaurids in aspects of its jaw morphology, Chenanisaurus may belong to an as-yet undescribed group of abelisaurids unique to Africa. Only further research will determine the true relations of this species. [1]
Many other abelisaurids have since been discovered, including much more complete specimens of Aucasaurus, Carnotaurus and Majungasaurus. They showed that abelisaurids were not carnosaurs in the modern sense, but belonged to the Neoceratosauria instead. Some scientists place Abelisaurus as a basal abelisaurid, outside the subfamily Carnotaurinae.
Some paleontologists have postulated that a large desert may have kept abelisaurids locked in southern Gondwana until the late Jurassic. [2] Whether correlation or causation, it has been largely observed that late Cretaceous ceratosaurs were found less in areas dominated by basal tetanurans (Africa) or coelurosaurs (North America and Asia). The ...
Ekrixinatosaurus compared in size to a human. Ekrixinatosaurus novasi is a large abelisaurid with a relatively large head and robust limbs. The combination of characteristics including a large skull, prominent supraorbital ridge above the dorsal aspect of the orbit, anteroposteriorly compressed cervical vertebrae, and robust, proportionally short hindlimbs with a tibia shorter than femur ...
This is a list of non-avian dinosaurs whose remains have been recovered in Africa.Africa has a rich fossil record. It is rich in Triassic and Early Jurassic dinosaurs. . African dinosaurs from these time periods include Megapnosaurus, Dracovenator, Melanorosaurus, Massospondylus, Euskelosaurus, Heterodontosaurus, Abrictosaurus, and Lesoth
Recent fossil evidence in the form of isolated large abelisaurid bones and comparisons with other similarly aged deposits elsewhere in Africa indicates that the fauna of the Kem Kem Group (specifically in regard to the numerous predatory theropod dinosaurs) may have been mixed together due to the harsh and changing geology of the region, when ...
It appears to be most closely related to abelisaurids from India rather than South America or continental Africa, a fact that has important biogeographical implications. Majungasaurus was the apex predator in its ecosystem , mainly preying on sauropods like Rapetosaurus , and is also one of the few dinosaurs for which there is direct evidence ...