Open Paleo

Lusovenator

Malafaia et al., 2020 LOO-so-ven-AY-tor

From Latin Luso- (Portuguese, referring to Lusitania/Portugal) combined with Latin venator (hunter); meaning "Portuguese hunter"

154.8–143.1 million years ago Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Lusovenator is a genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Amoreira-Porto Novo Member and the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian) Assenta Member of the Lourinhã Formation in present-day Portugal. It includes one species, Lusovenator santosi.

Under dispute

Lusovenator santosi, one of the oldest known carcharodontosaurians, is recovered as a basal member of Carcharodontosauria outside Carcharodontosauridae (Malafaia and colleagues, 2020), or as a basal carcharodontosaurid close to Lajasvenator (Kellermann and colleagues, 2025). It is placed at Carcharodontosauria incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Large recesses in neural arch of anterior dorsal vertebrae
  2. Well-developed continuous longitudinal laminae from prezygapophysis tip to postzygapophysis distal end in mid-caudal vertebrae
  3. Supraacetabular crest of ilium forming prominent ventrolaterally projecting shelf
  4. Absence of ventral keel on anterior dorsal vertebrae
  5. Hyposphene-hypantrum articulation in anterior caudal vertebrae
  6. Lateral lamina projecting from posterior articular facet to caudal rib base in mid-caudal vertebrae

Species

Lusovenator santosi Malafaia et al., 2020

Type species

Named for José Joaquim dos Santos, who discovered the holotype during the 1980s and later donated a personal fossil collection to the Sociedade de História Natural.

Holotype
SHN.036 , Sociedade de Historia Natural
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton: odontoid, atlantal intercentrum, cervical vertebra, isolated cervical neural spines, dorsal vertebrae, sacral fragments, caudal vertebrae, chevrons, rib fragments, right ilium, both pubes and ischia
Horizon
Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo Member, Lourinhã Formation, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Late Jurassic , 154.8–143.1 million years ago
Locality
Praia de Valmitão, Lisbon, Portugal

References

  1. Malafaia, E.; Mocho, P.; Escaso, F.; Ortega, F. (2020). A new carcharodontosaurian theropod from the Lusitanian Basin: evidence of allosauroid sympatry in the European Late Jurassic. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 40(1). Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1768106 malafaia2020a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c
  3. Kellermann, M.; Cuesta, E.; Rauhut, O. W. M. (2025). Re-evaluation of the Bahariya Formation carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and its implications for allosauroid phylogeny. PLOS ONE 20(1): e0311096. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311096

    Carcharodontosaurid re-evaluation recovering Lusovenator as basal, close to Lajasvenator.

    kellermann2025a