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Rugops

Say it: ROO-gops

Name means: “wrinkle face”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Rugops was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger, Africa, about 95 million years ago. It had a wrinkled, bumpy face and a delicate skull, which scientists think means it was a scavenger rather than a fierce hunter.1 2

Lived

100 to 94 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Niger, Africa (Echkar Formation)2 4

Food

Meat1 4

Length

4.4 to 5.3 m2

estimate based on partial skull

Weight

410 kg2

Height

2.4 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 14 big dogs

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 29 bananas end to endas heavy as 82 watermelonsabout as tall as a door

How big was Rugops compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Rugops is known from only a partial skull, which is about 31.5 centimetres (12.4 inches) long.2

The top of its skull had many pits and bumps, which would have supported scales and a tough, armour-like skin on its snout.2

Rows of holes in the skull may mean Rugops had a crest or some kind of display structure on its head.1

Rugops lived alongside other huge predators like Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus.2

The type specimen might have been a subadult, because its skull bones were not fully fused together.2

Rugops was one of the earliest abelisaurids, a group of horned, short-snouted theropods that lived in the southern continents.2

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

?How big was Rugops?

Scientists estimate Rugops was about 4.4 to 5.3 metres (14 to 17 feet) long and weighed around 410 kilograms (900 pounds). Some earlier estimates suggested it was up to 6 metres (20 feet) long and 750 kilograms (1,650 pounds).2

?What did Rugops eat?

Rugops was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. Its delicate skull suggests it was a scavenger that fed on dead animals rather than a hunter that killed its own prey.1 3

?Where did Rugops live?

Rugops lived in what is now Niger, Africa, about 95 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the Echkar Formation, which was a river and lake environment.2

?Did Rugops have feathers?

Nobody knows for sure. Rugops is known only from a skull, and no feathers or feather impressions have been found with it. Its skull had pits and bumps that supported scales, not feathers.2

?Why is it called Rugops?

Rugops means 'wrinkle face' in Latin and Greek. It was named for the wrinkled, bumpy texture on its skull bones.2

?Was Rugops bigger than T. rex?

No, Rugops was much smaller. Rugops was about 4.4 to 5.3 metres (14 to 17 feet) long, while T. rex was over 12 metres (40 feet) long.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Rugops
Named by: Sereno et al. 20044
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Abelisauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae4
Age of the rocks: 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)4
Rock formations: Echkar4
Countries: Niger4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Rugops was named in 2004 by paleontologist Paul Sereno and his team, based on a partial skull found in the Echkar Formation of Niger during an expedition funded by the National Geographic Society.2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Rugops is related to other abelisaurids; some studies place it as the most primitive, while others put it in a group with several other genera.2

Where the facts come from

Rugops | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Rugops (en.wikipedia.org)
Discoveries | Paul Sereno - Paleontologist | The University of Chicago (paulsereno.uchicago.edu)
Rugops in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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