Piveteausaurus
Piveteausaurus was a large meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now France. It had a skull as big as a large Allosaurus and probably hunted other dinosaurs.1
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Fun facts
Piveteausaurus is known from only a partial braincase, which was first described in 1923 by French paleontologist Jean Piveteau.1
The braincase of Piveteausaurus is about the same size as that of a large Allosaurus.1
Scientists have argued about where Piveteausaurus belongs in the dinosaur family tree, and some have thought it was related to Ceratosaurus or Proceratosaurus.1
Piveteausaurus lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic, about 164.7 to 161.2 million years ago.1
The fossil was found in rocks called the Marnes de Dives, near the Vaches Noires cliffs in Normandy.1
In 2010 a study found that Piveteausaurus most likely belonged to the family Megalosauridae.1
Most asked questions about Piveteausaurus
?How big was Piveteausaurus?
About 11 metres long, based on an estimate by Thomas Holtz in 2012.1
?What did Piveteausaurus eat?
It was a meat-eating dinosaur, or carnivore, that probably hunted other dinosaurs.2
?When did Piveteausaurus live?
It lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic, about 164.7 to 161.2 million years ago.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people thought Piveteausaurus was actually a species of Eustreptospondylus or Proceratosaurus.
Truth: In 1977 Taquet and Welles gave it its own genus, Piveteausaurus, and most scientists now agree it is a separate dinosaur.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Piveteausaurus
- Named by
- Taquet and Welles 19772
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Megalosauridae2
- Classification
- Theropoda2
- Age of the rocks
- 165 to 155 million years (Callovian / Oxfordian)2
- Rock formations
- Marnes de Dives2
- Countries
- France2
- Fossil records
- 3 in the Paleobiology Database2
- Discovery
- The first Piveteausaurus fossil, a partial braincase, was found by a local collector named Dutacq near Dives in Normandy, France. It was later named Piveteausaurus by Philippe Taquet and Samuel Welles in 1977.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are still not sure exactly which group of theropod dinosaurs Piveteausaurus belongs to, because only its braincase has been found.1
Where the facts come from
- Piveteausaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Piveteausaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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