Torvosaurus tanneri tɔːrvoh-SƆːRUHS

"savage"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Torvosaurus 10 m (33 ft) long
6 people holding hands
Length
10 m (33 ft)
Period
Middle Jurassic (165–146.5 Mya)
Place
North America · Europe · Germany · Spain
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Megalosauridae

Torvosaurus () is a genus of large megalosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 146.5 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle and Late Jurassic period in what is now Colorado, Portugal, Germany, and possibly England, Spain, Tanzania, and Uruguay. It contains two currently recognized species, Torvosaurus tanneri and Torvosaurus gurneyi, plus a third unnamed species from Germany.

In 1979, the type species Torvosaurus tanneri was named. Measuring around 9 m long and weighing approximately 2 – 2.4 MT, T. tanneri was among the largest terrestrial carnivores in North America during the Late Jurassic. Specimens of Torvosaurus gurneyi were measured up to 10 m in length and 4 – 5 MT in body mass, suggesting that it was much larger than T. tanneri and was the largest terrestrial carnivore in Europe during the Late Jurassic.

What we know

  • Named by Galton & Jensen, 1979.
  • Body length estimated at about 10 m.
  • Fossils found in North America and Europe.