Caletodraco

Say it: kal-ET-oh-DRAH-koh

Name means: “dragon of the Caleti, a Celtic tribe that lived in the area where the fossil was found”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Caletodraco was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now France. It was a type of abelisaurid, a group of fierce predators with short snouts and tiny arms. Its bones were found in chalk cliffs by the sea, which is very unusual for a dinosaur!1

Lived

100 to 94 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, Normandy, France1 3

Food

Meat1 3

Length

6 m2 1

estimated based on similarity to Skorpiovenator

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to end

How big was Caletodraco compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Caletodraco belongs to a group called Furileusauria, which was previously only known from South America. This suggests that these dinosaurs had a more complex history in Europe than scientists thought.1

The fossils were found in two separate blocks in 2021 and 2023. They fit together perfectly, with only a little bone missing between them.1

Caletodraco lived about 100 to 94 million years ago, during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.3

The dinosaur's bones were discovered in marine chalk, meaning the carcass floated out to sea and sank. A shark tooth was found next to the bones, showing that a shark scavenged on the dead dinosaur.1

The type specimen includes a sacrum, both ilia, the first tail vertebra, and some poorly preserved bones that might be ribs. An isolated tooth was also found nearby.1

Caletodraco is one of the earliest known furileusaurian abelisaurids. Its discovery helps scientists understand how these dinosaurs spread across the world.1

AI-made picture of Caletodraco — An AI-made picture of how Caletodraco 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 Caletodraco

?How big was Caletodraco?

About 6 metres (20 feet) long, similar in size to its relative Skorpiovenator.2 1

?What did Caletodraco eat?

It was a meat-eater, like other abelisaurids. A tooth found nearby might be from Caletodraco itself or from another dinosaur that ate the carcass.3 1

?When did Caletodraco live?

It lived about 100 to 94 million years ago, during the Early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.3 2

?Was Caletodraco a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a meat-eating theropod dinosaur, specifically an abelisaurid.2 1

Ask Rex about Caletodraco

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Caletodraco
Named by: Buffetaut et al. 20243
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Abelisauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae3
Age of the rocks: 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)3
Rock formations: Saint Jouin3
Countries: France3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Caletodraco was named by Eric Buffetaut and colleagues in 2024. The fossils were found by Nicolas Cottard, a local researcher, who donated them to the Muséum d'histoire naturelle du Havre.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if the isolated tooth found with the bones belongs to the same Caletodraco individual or to another abelisaurid that ate the carcass.1

Where the facts come from

Caletodraco cottardi: A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid ... (mdpi.com)
Caletodraco (en.wikipedia.org)
Caletodraco 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex