Ceratosaurus
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Ceratosaurus Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||
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| An old reconstruction of Ceratosaurus as an erect biped; modern reconstructions have the spine horizontal, with the large tail counterbalancing the head and body | ||||||||||||||
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| Ceratosaurus nasicornis Marsh, 1884 | ||||||||||||||
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C. nasicornis |
Ceratosaurus ("horned lizard") is a predatory dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It is characterized by large jaws with enormous, bladelike teeth, a large, bladelike horn on the snout, and a pair hornlets over the eyes. The forelimbs were powerfully built but very short. The type species is Ceratosaurus nasicornis, although several other species have been named, including C. dentisulcatus and C. magnicornis. Ceratosaurus is known from the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry in central Utah and Dry Mesa in Colorado. It lived alongside dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.
Ceratosaurus was around 4.5 - 6 meters in size, weighing 500kg up to 1 tonne. The African C. ingens may have been much larger, with size estimates ranging up to 5 tonnes, which if correct would make it one of the largest of the Theropoda.
Relatives of Ceratosaurus include Elaphrosaurus and the abelisaur Carnotaurus.
Filmography: A Ceratosaurus battles a Triceratops in the 1960's remake of 1 Million Years B.C. and a Ceratosaur has a brief appearance in Jurassic Park III.fr:Ceratosaurus pt:Ceratossauro nl:Ceratosaurus
