Eoabelisaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eoabelisaurus |
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| Eoabelisaurus holotype fossil, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio | |
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Eoabelisaurus
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mefi
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Eoabelisaurus (pronounced "Ee-oh-ah-bell-ih-SAWR-us") was a type of large, meat-eating dinosaur. It lived during the Middle Jurassic Period, about 163 million years ago. This dinosaur roamed what is now South America.
Eoabelisaurus walked on two legs, like a bird. It was a carnivore, meaning it ate other animals. Scientists believe it grew to be about 6.5 meters (21 feet) long. That's longer than a typical car!
The discovery of Eoabelisaurus was quite recent. It is very important because the fossil found was almost complete. This makes it the oldest known member of a dinosaur group called Abelisauridae. Finding such a complete and old fossil helps scientists learn more about how these dinosaurs evolved.
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What Was Eoabelisaurus?
Eoabelisaurus belongs to a group of dinosaurs called theropods. These were mostly meat-eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs. Famous theropods include Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.
This dinosaur is special because it's the earliest known member of the Abelisauridae family. Abelisaurids were a group of theropods mostly found in the southern continents. They often had short, deep skulls and sometimes very small arms. Eoabelisaurus helps us understand how these unique dinosaurs first appeared and changed over time.
Where Was Eoabelisaurus Found?
The only known fossil of Eoabelisaurus was discovered in Argentina, in South America. Specifically, it was found in the Cañadón Asfalto Formation. This area is known for its rich dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic Period.
The fossil was found in rocks that formed during the Middle Jurassic. This time period was between the Early and Late Jurassic. During the Jurassic, the Earth's continents were still connected in a supercontinent called Pangaea. However, Pangaea was slowly breaking apart. This led to different dinosaur groups evolving in different parts of the world.
How Did Scientists Learn About It?
The fossil of Eoabelisaurus was found in 2009. It was officially described and named in 2012 by paleontologists Oliver W. M. Rauhut and Diego Pol. They studied the bones carefully to figure out what kind of dinosaur it was.
Because the fossil was so complete, scientists could learn a lot. They could see its skull, backbone, and parts of its limbs. This helped them understand its size, how it moved, and what it might have looked like. Its features showed that it was an early relative of other abelisaurids like Carnotaurus.
Images for kids
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Holotype skull, seen from the left side, with triangle ruler for scale
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Restoration
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Restoration
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Lower leg bones
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Comparison between Carnotaurus, Dilophosaurus, and Eoabelisaurus forelimbs demonstrating gradual reduction starting at the distal elements
See also
In Spanish: Eoabelisaurus mefi para niños
