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Aucasaurus

Say it: aw-ka-SORE-us

Name means: “Auca lizard”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Aucasaurus was a medium-sized meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina. It had tiny arms with almost no fingers, and its skull had low ridges above the eyes instead of horns.2 1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Argentina (Anacleto Formation, Neuquén Basin)2 4

Food

Meat4 1

Length

5 to 6.2 m2 1

estimates vary

Weight

700 kg2

Height

1.8 m3

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 23 big dogs

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 34 bananas end to endas heavy as 140 watermelonsabout as tall as a door

How big was Aucasaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Aucasaurus had four bones in its hand, but only two fingers with no claws.2

Its tail bones suggest it had strong tail muscles and could run fast.2

The skull of the only known skeleton is damaged, which might mean it got into a fight before it died.2

Two of its tail vertebrae were fused together from birth, a condition called block vertebrae. This is the earliest known example of this birth defect in a meat-eating dinosaur.2

Aucasaurus was smaller than its relative Carnotaurus, but its arms were even more reduced.2

AI-made picture of Aucasaurus — An AI-made picture of how Aucasaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Aucasaurus

?How big was Aucasaurus?

Aucasaurus was about 5.5 to 6.2 metres long and weighed around 700 kilograms. The Natural History Museum gives a length of 5.0 metres.2 1

?What did Aucasaurus eat?

Aucasaurus was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. It likely hunted other animals or scavenged.1

?When did Aucasaurus live?

Aucasaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 84 to 71 million years ago.1

?Where was Aucasaurus found?

Aucasaurus was found in Argentina, in the Anacleto Formation of the Neuquén Basin.2 1

?Was Aucasaurus bigger than Carnotaurus?

No, Aucasaurus was smaller than Carnotaurus. It was about 5.5 to 6.2 metres long, while Carnotaurus was larger.2

?Did Aucasaurus have feathers?

The sources do not mention feathers on Aucasaurus. It is not known if it had feathers.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Aucasaurus
Named by: Coria et al. 20024
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Abelisauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Anacleto4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Aucasaurus was named by Rodolfo Coria, Luis Chiappe and Lowell Dingus in 2002. The skeleton was found in Argentina.2 1
Still debated: Some scientists think Aucasaurus might be the same species as Abelisaurus, but others disagree.2

Where the facts come from

Aucasaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Aucasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Aucasaurus | Part of the Theropod Family of Dinosaurs (dinosaurmadness.com)
Aucasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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