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Fosterovenator

Say it: FOS-ter-oh-ven-ay-tor

Name means: “Foster's hunter”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fosterovenator was a small, meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Wyoming, USA, about 150 million years ago. It ran on two legs and probably hunted small animals in the floodplains and forests of the Jurassic period.1 3

Lived

155 to 143 million years ago3

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Wyoming, USA (Como Bluff, Quarry 12, Morrison Formation)1 3

Food

Meat3

Length

up to 3 m2

largest known specimen

Weight

up to 85 kg2

largest known specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 3 big dogs

as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 17 bananas end to endas heavy as 17 watermelons

How big was Fosterovenator compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Fosterovenator is known from only a few leg bones: a shin bone (tibia) with an ankle bone (astragalus) attached, and a calf bone (fibula).1

The first fossils of Fosterovenator were discovered in 1879 by Arthur Lakes during the famous 'Bone Wars' between paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope.1

The shin bone belonged to a juvenile, but the calf bone came from a much larger adult, measuring 27.5 cm (10.8 inches) long.1

Fosterovenator lived alongside other dinosaurs like Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.1

The name Fosterovenator honors paleontologist John R. Foster, and 'venator' means 'hunter' in Latin.1

Some scientists question whether the adult calf bone really belongs to Fosterovenator, so it might be from a different dinosaur.1

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

?What did Fosterovenator eat?

Fosterovenator was a meat-eating dinosaur, so it likely hunted small animals. The Paleobiology Database lists it as a ground-dwelling carnivore.3

?How big was Fosterovenator?

Scientists don't know its exact size because only a few leg bones are known. The adult calf bone (fibula) was 27.5 cm long, suggesting a fairly small dinosaur, but no full size estimate is given in the sources.1

?When did Fosterovenator live?

Fosterovenator lived during the Late Jurassic, about 155 to 147 million years ago, in what is now Wyoming, USA.1

?Was Fosterovenator a dinosaur?

Yes, Fosterovenator was a small theropod dinosaur, a meat-eater that walked on two legs.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Fosterovenator
Named by: Dalman 20143
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Ceratosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria3
Age of the rocks: 155 to 143 million years (Kimmeridgian / Tithonian)3
Rock formations: Morrison3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Fosterovenator was named in 2014 by researcher Sebastian G. Dalman, based on fossils found in 1879 at Como Bluff, Wyoming. The type specimen is a nearly complete right shin bone (tibia) with an attached ankle bone, probably from a juvenile.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if the adult calf bone (fibula) assigned to Fosterovenator really belongs to this dinosaur or to a different species.1

Where the facts come from

Fosterovenator (en.wikipedia.org)
Fosterovenator churei | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Fosterovenator 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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