Open Paleo

Taurovenator

Motta et al., 2016 TOH-ro-VEN-uh-tuh Disputed

From Latin 'taurus' meaning 'bull' and 'venator' meaning 'hunter', hence 'bull hunter'.

100.5–89.8 million years ago Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Taurovenator, from Latin taurus, meaning "bull", and venator, meaning "hunter", is an extinct genus of large, probable carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now Argentina during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous, around 95 to 93.9 million years ago. Initially only known from a single postorbital skull bone described from the Huincul Formation, Taurovenator violantei was named in 2016 by Argentine paleontologist Matias Motta and colleagues. Debate came about over the validity of the species, with some paleontologists arguing that Taurovenator was synonymous with the earlier-named carcharodontosaurid Mapusaurus. However, the 2024 description of a well-preserved partial skull and skeleton referable to Taurovenator aided in distinguishing the two taxa.

Under dispute

Taurovenator violantei is recovered among the giganotosaurine carcharodontosaurids (Aranciaga Rolando and colleagues, 2024), but its validity is disputed: Coria and colleagues (2020) considered it a junior synonym of Mapusaurus, finding both characters that diagnose the holotype postorbital present in Mapusaurus and, less developed, in Giganotosaurus. The 2024 redescription answers from new material (MPCA-PV 803) that the horn-like projection is absent in those genera and the ventral excavation shallower and unperforated, while other analyses recover Taurovenator only as an unstable wildcard within Carcharodontosauridae (Cau and Paterna, 2025).

Diagnosis

  1. Postorbital with a horn-like, deeply rugose projection, strongly expanded dorsally and transversely, on the posterodorsal surface of the anterior process
  2. Postorbital with a deep excavation on its ventral surface bearing a deep quadrangular foramen
  3. Jugal with two foramina between the processes for the quadratojugal, a lateroventrally oriented ventral margin below the thick shelf, and a ridge-like vertical rugosity at mid-length of the anterior process
  4. Quadrate head vertically oriented in posterior view, the quadrate ridge stopping short of it, and the medial distal condyle larger than the lateral
  5. Ectopterygoid with the anterior part of the pterygoid process thin in medial or lateral view
  6. Humerus with a notably anteroposteriorly thin proximal end and a medially directed internal tuberosity, and radius with the distal tubercle set far from the medioanterior lip of the distal end

Species

Taurovenator violantei Motta et al., 2016 Disputed

Type species

Named for Violante Farm in Rio Negro Province, Argentina, the site where the holotype postorbital was unearthed.

Holotype
MPCA-PV 802 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
Material
Isolated right postorbital.
Horizon
Huincul Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, Río Negro, Argentina

Notable specimens

  • MPCA-PV 803

    Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino" Found 2005 by Matías Motta complementary

    Associated partial skull and skeleton found beside the postorbital holotype in 2005 and described in 2024. Preserves jaws, an imbricated cervical complex, nearly complete reduced forelimbs, dorsals, a femur and foot, and yielded new traits distinguishing the genus from Mapusaurus and Meraxes.

    Aranciaga Rolando et al. (2024)

References

  1. Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Motta, M. J.; Agnolín, F. L.; Tsuihiji, T.; Miner, S.; Brissón Egli, F.; Novas, F. E. (2024). A new carcharodontosaurid specimen sheds light on the anatomy of South American giant predatory dinosaurs. The Science of Nature 111(6): 56. doi:10.1007/s00114-024-01942-4

    Source of the emended diagnosis, which draws nine of its twelve autapomorphies from the jaws and forelimb of the referred skeleton.

    aranciagarolando2024a
  2. Motta, M. J.; Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F. L.; Chimento, N. R.; Brissón Egli, F.; Novas, F. E. (2016). New theropod fauna from the Upper Cretaceous (Huincul Formation) of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Period: Biotic Diversity and Biogeography 71: 231-253. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. motta2016a
  3. Cau, A.; Paterna, A. (2025). Beyond the Stromer's Riddle: the impact of lumping and splitting hypotheses on the systematics of the giant predatory dinosaurs from northern Africa. Italian Journal of Geosciences 144(2): 162-185. doi:10.3301/IJG.2025.10

    Recovered Taurovenator only as an unstable wildcard within Carcharodontosauridae.

    cau2025a
  4. Coria, R. A.; Currie, P. J.; Ortega, F.; Baiano, M. A. (2020). An Early Cretaceous, medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Mulichinco Formation (upper Valanginian), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 111. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104319

    Considered Taurovenator a junior synonym of Mapusaurus, in a discussion of carcharodontosaurid diversity in the paper naming Lajasvenator.

    coria2020a