Dinosaurs A to Z
Megaraptoridae

Australovenator wintonensis

"southern hunter"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Australovenator 7 m (23 ft) long
as long as 4 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Australovenator
Length
7 m (23 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (95 Mya)
Place
Asia · Australia
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Megaraptoridae
Australovenator reconstruction by Artwork: T. Tischler, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History.
Reconstruction · Artwork: T. Tischler, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History. (CC-BY)

Australovenator (meaning “southern hunter”) is a genus of megaraptoran theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation (Cenomanian, 95 million years ago) of Australia. Some specimens from the Albian-aged Eumeralla Formation and the Wonthaggi Formation may belong to Australovenator. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains, which were described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues, although additional descriptions and analyses continue to be published. It is the most complete predatory dinosaur discovered in Australia. It has been suggested that Australovenator is a sister taxon to Fukuiraptor, although some phylogenetic analyses find it to be a more derived member of the Megaraptora, possibly being part of the main Megaraptoridae family itself.

What we know

  • Named by Hocknull et al. 2009.
  • Body length estimated at about 7 m.
  • Fossils found in Asia and Australia.

What we guess

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