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Description

•Scientific Name: Carnotaurus sastrei

•Pronunciation: kar-noh-taw-rus

•Meaning in Latin: Meat-eating bull

•Code Name: Carno

•Discovered by: José Bonaparte, 1985

•Classification: Animalia, Chordata,‭ ‬Sauropsida, Reptilia, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Diapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Crocopoda, Archosauriformes, Eucrocopoda, Crurotarsi, Archosauria, Avemetatarsalia, ‬Ornithodira, Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Ceratosauria, Neoceratosauria, ‭Abelisauroidea, ‬Abelisauridae, Carnotaurinae, Brachyrostra, Furileusauria, Carnotaurini

•Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 71 million years ago

•Location: ‬South America, Argentina,‭ ‬Chubut Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬La Colonia Formation

•Length: 7.5 to 9 meters (25 to 30 feet) long

•Weight: 1,400 to 2,100 kilograms (1,100 lbs)
•Diet: Carnivore

The ‘flesh-eating bull’ may just have been the fastest of all the terrifying major carnivores that ruled the Cretaceous. For, while it has traditionally gained attention for the horns on its brow, research by Scott Persons and Phil Currie published in 2011 suggested that Carnotaurus’ most unusual feature lay at the other end of its body. This was by any measure a pretty strange theropod – it had a notably long neck and forearms so withered that they make T. rex’s look well developed. But it turns out its most important innovation was its tail. In a paper that they gave the unusually exciting title ‘Dinosaur Speed Demon’, Persons and Currie looked at a series of interlocking rib-like bones at the top of its tail and interpreted a series of distinct ridges as ‘attachment scars’, marking where a pair of muscles called the caudofemoralis joined to the bone. Tendons attached the other end of each muscle to the two thighbones. They created a digital model of the tail muscles and found that they would have been huge, bigger than those of any other theropod. Contracting them served to pull the legs upwards while running – so the tail gave Carnotaurus’ thighs extraordinary explosive power, allowing it to bound along at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Because the tail was so reinforced with bone, it was unusually stiff, and this meant that Carnotaurus had trouble changing direction. That was the only consolation for the smaller herbivores in its territory.

“The tail was rigid, making it difficult for the hunter to make quick, fluid turns”, Persons stated when publishing the paper. “Imagine yourself as a small plant-eating dinosaur on the floodplains of prehistoric Argentina, and you are unlucky enough to find yourself being charged by a hungry Carnotaurus. Your best bet is to make a lot of quick turns, because you couldn’t beat Carnotaurus in a straight sprint.”

This was the latest and most specialised of the abelisaurs, a group of short-legged and relatively streamlined theropods that dominated the southern hemisphere alongside the huge carcharodontosaurs, whereas the bulky tyrannosaurs held control in the north. Abelisaurs were most distinctive for the ornamentation on their skulls (others include Rugops and Rajasaurus). There is no consensus on the purpose of Carnotaurus’ horns; some experts suggest they were for butting rivals of the same species, others say its skull was too weak to withstand such an impact, and others suspect they were for display or even attacking prey.

One certainly is that we can discount the idea of this large theropod being feathered. A Carnotaurus fossil found in Argentina provides the most complete skin impression we can have of any carnivorous dinosaur, revealing it to be covered by rounded scales with rows of larger scutes running along its flanks. Its forward-facing eyes probably gave it binocular vision – useful for a hunter tracking its prey – but some mystery surrounds what it preyed upon and how. Its skull was short and its lower jaw lightweight, suggesting it could bite quickly but with less power than the biggest theropods. It may have used its speed to pursue bird-like plant-eaters, leaving the big sauropods to the likes of Giganotosaurus. Those massive carcharodontosaurs were presumably not fussy eaters, so it is plausible that they sometimes turned their sights on smaller carnivores. Evading their attentions would have been another good use of Carnotaurus’ sprinting ability.

Model based on: Carnotaurus from Prehistoric Planet (2022)

Spore Abilities: Level 5 Sprint, Level 1 Sneak, Level 4 Bite, Level 1 Charge, Level 2 Strike, Level 2 Sing, Level 4 Dance, Level 3 Charm

Note: This SPORE model has Creepy & Cute parts. SPORE players downloading this model is required to have the C&C expansion pack in order to access to the model.

Description

•Scientific Name: Carnotaurus sastrei

•Pronunciation: kar-noh-taw-rus

•Meaning in Latin: Meat-eating bull

•Code Name: Carno

•Discovered by: José Bonaparte, 1985

•Classification: Animalia, Chordata,‭ ‬Sauropsida, Reptilia, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Diapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Crocopoda, Archosauriformes, Eucrocopoda, Crurotarsi, Archosauria, Avemetatarsalia, ‬Ornithodira, Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Ceratosauria, Neoceratosauria, ‭Abelisauroidea, ‬Abelisauridae, Carnotaurinae, Brachyrostra, Furileusauria, Carnotaurini

•Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 71 million years ago

•Location: ‬South America, Argentina,‭ ‬Chubut Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬La Colonia Formation

•Length: 7.5 to 9 meters (25 to 30 feet) long

•Weight: 1,400 to 2,100 kilograms (1,100 lbs)
•Diet: Carnivore

The ‘flesh-eating bull’ may just have been the fastest of all the terrifying major carnivores that ruled the Cretaceous. For, while it has traditionally gained attention for the horns on its brow, research by Scott Persons and Phil Currie published in 2011 suggested that Carnotaurus’ most unusual feature lay at the other end of its body. This was by any measure a pretty strange theropod – it had a notably long neck and forearms so withered that they make T. rex’s look well developed. But it turns out its most important innovation was its tail. In a paper that they gave the unusually exciting title ‘Dinosaur Speed Demon’, Persons and Currie looked at a series of interlocking rib-like bones at the top of its tail and interpreted a series of distinct ridges as ‘attachment scars’, marking where a pair of muscles called the caudofemoralis joined to the bone. Tendons attached the other end of each muscle to the two thighbones. They created a digital model of the tail muscles and found that they would have been huge, bigger than those of any other theropod. Contracting them served to pull the legs upwards while running – so the tail gave Carnotaurus’ thighs extraordinary explosive power, allowing it to bound along at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Because the tail was so reinforced with bone, it was unusually stiff, and this meant that Carnotaurus had trouble changing direction. That was the only consolation for the smaller herbivores in its territory.

“The tail was rigid, making it difficult for the hunter to make quick, fluid turns”, Persons stated when publishing the paper. “Imagine yourself as a small plant-eating dinosaur on the floodplains of prehistoric Argentina, and you are unlucky enough to find yourself being charged by a hungry Carnotaurus. Your best bet is to make a lot of quick turns, because you couldn’t beat Carnotaurus in a straight sprint.”

This was the latest and most specialised of the abelisaurs, a group of short-legged and relatively streamlined theropods that dominated the southern hemisphere alongside the huge carcharodontosaurs, whereas the bulky tyrannosaurs held control in the north. Abelisaurs were most distinctive for the ornamentation on their skulls (others include Rugops and Rajasaurus). There is no consensus on the purpose of Carnotaurus’ horns; some experts suggest they were for butting rivals of the same species, others say its skull was too weak to withstand such an impact, and others suspect they were for display or even attacking prey.

One certainly is that we can discount the idea of this large theropod being feathered. A Carnotaurus fossil found in Argentina provides the most complete skin impression we can have of any carnivorous dinosaur, revealing it to be covered by rounded scales with rows of larger scutes running along its flanks. Its forward-facing eyes probably gave it binocular vision – useful for a hunter tracking its prey – but some mystery surrounds what it preyed upon and how. Its skull was short and its lower jaw lightweight, suggesting it could bite quickly but with less power than the biggest theropods. It may have used its speed to pursue bird-like plant-eaters, leaving the big sauropods to the likes of Giganotosaurus. Those massive carcharodontosaurs were presumably not fussy eaters, so it is plausible that they sometimes turned their sights on smaller carnivores. Evading their attentions would have been another good use of Carnotaurus’ sprinting ability.

Model based on: Carnotaurus from Prehistoric Planet (2022)

Spore Abilities: Level 5 Sprint, Level 1 Sneak, Level 4 Bite, Level 1 Charge, Level 2 Strike, Level 2 Sing, Level 4 Dance, Level 3 Charm

Note: This SPORE model has Creepy & Cute parts. SPORE players downloading this model is required to have the C&C expansion pack in order to access to the model.