Carnotaurus, the "Meat-eating bull," is a carnivorous ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur that lives in the Lost Valley. It represents a unique group of theropod dinosaurs called abelisaurids, who lived in the late Cretaceous period, roughly between 71 and 65 million years ago, in what is now South America. The most notable feature of this dinosaur are the two small horns above its eyes, the first known carnivore to have this feature.
History
Carnotaurus was discovered in 1984 in the Chubut Province of Argentina. These remains were very important as they included the first fossilized imprint of skin from a theropod dinosaur. This finding was of a nearly complete skeleton that is only missing a piece of the tail and part of the legs. This dinosaur has revolutionized much of the way we conceive of the physiology of large predators.
Appearance
Carnotaurus is a theropod of medium height measuring about 26 feet long and 13 feet tall. Carnotaurus is a lightly built, bipedal predator weighing about 1,500 kilograms (roughly 2 tons). Their head was very small compared to those of other predators of their size, as it only measured 60 cm long. Their teeth were also comparatively small at around four centimeters, though they were long for an abelisaurid. The most distinctive features of the Carnotaurus are the two thick horns above the eyes and the extremely small, four-fingered forelimbs. Skin impressions have revealed that this dinosaur was at least partially covered in small, bony scutes.
Role in the Storyline
A Carnotaurus appears and the stampede of Ankylosaurus run. The Carnotaurus falls into the river, but appears again. Turok and the others fall off of a waterfall, and the Carnotaurus watches them fall.
Turok later finds a female Carnotaurus holding a Wild Boar, feeding it to her young. Turok decides to follow her, before his enemies, the savage Cavemen, catch him. Later, Turok's brother tells him that the Carnotaurus (referred to as the "Great Horned One") is the most feared creature in the Lost Land, but it only kills because that is what it was made for.
After Turok and Andar escape, Turok uses blood to attract the Carnotaurus and controls it enough for Andar and him to ride on. Turok, Andar, and the Carnotaurus all three fight the cavemen. After Turok kills Chichak by decapitating him with his father's tomahawk, the tamed Carnotarus stomps his head and stares at Turok, who remains still. As the Carnotaurus continues to glare at him as if it were trying to communicate, the remaining cavemen try to sneak away, but the Carnotaurus notices them from behind and decides to give chase instead.
Trivia
- The Carnotaurus' arms in Turok: Son of Stone are fairly long, though the actual dinosaur's arms are quite short.
List of appearances
- Turok: Son of Stone (First appearance)