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Fun facts
Viavenator belongs to a group called Furileusauria, which means 'stiff back lizard' in the Mapudungun language, because their backbones were very rigid.2
It lived during the Santonian age, about 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago, filling a gap in the fossil record between earlier and later abelisaurids.32
The only known species is Viavenator exxoni, named after ExxonMobil for helping preserve fossils in the La Invernada area.12
Its skeleton shows special features like a deep notch in the skull bones and a downturned crest on the shin bone, which helped scientists identify it as a new species.2
Viavenator had a very stiff backbone with extra connections between the vertebrae, making its spine almost like a single rod.2
It was a medium to big sized theropod, part of the abelisaurid family that lived in the southern continents during the Cretaceous.2
Most asked questions about Viavenator
?How big was Viavenator?
About 5.6 metres (18 feet) long.1
?What did Viavenator eat?
It was a carnivore, so it ate meat.1
?Why did Viavenator have a stiff back?
Its backbone was very rigid, with extra connections between vertebrae, which helped it move like a seesaw pivoting on its hips.2
?When did Viavenator live?
It lived during the Santonian age of the Late Cretaceous, about 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Viavenator
- Named by
- Filippi et al. 20165
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Abelisauridae5
- Classification
- Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae5
- Age of the rocks
- 86 to 84 million years (Santonian)5
- Rock formations
- Bajo de la Carpa5
- Countries
- Argentina5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Viavenator was named and described in 2016 by Filippi and colleagues based on a partial skeleton found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Argentina.13
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating exactly how Viavenator is related to other abelisaurids, as it seems to be a transitional form between earlier and later species.2
Where the facts come from
- Viavenator (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new brachyrostran with hypertrophied axial structures reveals an unexpected radiation of latest Cretaceous abelisaurids (corporate.exxonmobil.com)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Viavenator exxoni | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
- Viavenator in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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