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Xenotarsosaurus

Say it: ZEE-no-TAR-so-SORE-us

Name means: “strange ankle lizard”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Xenotarsosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that stomped around Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. It had a very strange ankle that looked different from other dinosaurs, which is how it got its name.1

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago2

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Chubut province, Argentina1 2

Food

Meat2

Length

5.4 to 6 m1

estimates vary

Weight

430 kg to 750 kg1

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 25 big dogs

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 150 watermelons

How big was Xenotarsosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Xenotarsosaurus is known from only a few bones: two back vertebrae and a right hind leg.1

Its ankle bones were completely fused together, which is very unusual and gave the dinosaur its name.1

Scientists think Xenotarsosaurus was about 5.4 to 6 meters long, as long as a small bus.1

It weighed between 430 and 750 kilograms, about as much as a large cow or a small car.1

Xenotarsosaurus lived around 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Its fossils were found near a ranch called Ocho Hermanos in Argentina.1

Some scientists think Xenotarsosaurus was a close relative of Carnotaurus, another horned meat-eater.1

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

?What did Xenotarsosaurus eat?

It was a meat-eater, like other theropods.1

?How big was Xenotarsosaurus?

Scientists estimate it was about 5.4 to 6 meters (18 to 20 feet) long, as long as a small bus, and weighed between 430 and 750 kilograms (950 to 1,650 pounds), as much as a large cow or a small car.1

?Where did Xenotarsosaurus live?

It lived in what is now Argentina, in the Chubut province. Its fossils were found in the Bajo Barreal Formation.1

?When did Xenotarsosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 95 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Xenotarsosaurus
Named by: Martínez et al. 19862
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Abelisauridae2
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae2
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)2
Rock formations: Bajo Barreal2
Countries: Argentina2
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Xenotarsosaurus was named in 1986 by Rubén Martínez and his team. The fossils were found by geologist Juan Carlos Sciutto in 1980, and more bones were later collected by paleontologist José Bonaparte.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Xenotarsosaurus is related to other abelisaurids. Some think it is a true abelisaurid, while others say it might be a more primitive neoceratosaurian.1

Where the facts come from

Xenotarsosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Xenotarsosaurus 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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