Viavenator

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Viavenator
Temporal range: Santonian
~86–83 Ma
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Life restoration of Viavenator exxoni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: Abelisauridae
Clade: Furileusauria
Genus: Viavenator
Filippi et al., 2016
Type species
Viavenator exxoni
Filippi et al., 2016

Viavenator (meaning "road hunter") is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in the Santonian-aged (Late Cretaceous) Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Argentina. Only a single species is known, V. exxoni, formally described in 2016 by Filippi and colleagues.

Classification

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Filippi et al. classified Viavenator to a new clade known as the Furileusauria,[1] which includes it as well as Carnotaurus. This would mean the former taxon was closer to the latter than Majungasaurus. It would have measured 5.6 metres (18 ft) in length.[2]

Palaeobiology

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File:Viavenator size.jpg
Size comparison of Viavenator to a human

Viavenator possessed a brain morphology similar to Aucasaurus, another South American abelisaurid, and had a similar inner ear. Compared to the Madagascan abelisaurid Majungasaurus, Viavenator was more reliant on quick movements of the head and sophisticated gaze stabilization mechanisms. However, both genera had a similar range of hearing according to the examinations and subsequent CT scans of the cranium.[3]

See also

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References

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