Dinosaurs A to Z
Megalosauridae

Afrovenator afrohvih-NAYTER

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Afrovenator 7.6 m (24.9 ft) long
as long as 5 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Afrovenator
Length
7.6 m (24.9 ft)
Period
Middle Jurassic (167–157 Mya)
Place
South America · Africa · Gondwana · Niger
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Megalosauridae

Afrovenator (; “African hunter”) is an extinct genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle or Late Jurassic Tiourarén Formation and maybe the Irhazer II Formation of the Sahara region of Niger in western Africa. Afrovenator represents the only named definitive Gondwanan megalosaur, with proposed material of the group present in the Tacuarembó Formation of Uruguay and the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, both dated to the Late Jurassic.

What we know

  • Named by Sereno et al. 1994.
  • Body length estimated at about 7.6 m.
  • Fossils found in South America and Africa.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Afrovenator — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.