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''Viavenator'' (meaning "road hunter") is a genus of carnivorous
abelisaurid Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are foun ...
theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
discovered in Argentina's
Bajo de la Carpa Formation The Bajo de la Carpa Formation is a geologic formation of the Neuquén Basin that outcrop, crops out in northern Patagonia, in the provinces of Río Negro Province, Río Negro and Neuquén Province, Neuquén, Argentina. It is the oldest of two for ...
. It coexisted with the
megaraptora Megaraptora is a clade of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Its derived members, the Megaraptoridae are noted for their large hand claws and powerfully-built forelimbs, which are usually reduced in size in other large theropods. Although undoubt ...
n '' Tratayenia rosalesi''.


Classification

Filippi classified ''Viavenator'' to a new clade known as the
Furileusauria Brachyrostra (meaning "short snouts") is a clade within the theropod dinosaur family Abelisauridae. It includes the famous genera ''Carnotaurus'', '' Aucasaurus'', potentially ''Abelisaurus'' as well as their close relatives from the Cretaceous P ...
, which includes ''Viavenator'' as well as ''
Carnotaurus ''Carnotaurus'' (; ) is a genus of Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, probably sometime between 72 and 69 million years ago. The only species is ''Carnotaurus sastrei''. Known from a si ...
''. This would have meant ''Viavenator'' was closer to ''
Carnotaurus ''Carnotaurus'' (; ) is a genus of Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, probably sometime between 72 and 69 million years ago. The only species is ''Carnotaurus sastrei''. Known from a si ...
'' than ''
Majungasaurus ''Majungasaurus'' (; ) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, making it one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during th ...
''. It would have been in length.


Palaeobiology

''Viavenator'' possessed a similar brain morphology to '' Aucasaurus'', another South American abelisaurid and had a similar inner ear. Compared to the Madagascan abelisaurid ''
Majungasaurus ''Majungasaurus'' (; ) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, making it one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during th ...
'', ''Viavenator'' was more reliant more on quick movements of the head and sophisticated gaze stabilization mechanisms; however, both genera had a similar range of hearing according to the examinations and subsequent CT scans of the cranium.


See also

*
Timeline of ceratosaur research This timeline of ceratosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the History of paleontology, history of paleontology focused on the ceratosaurs, a group of relatively primitive, often horned, predatory theropod dinosaurs that became ...
*
2016 in paleontology Flora Plants Fungi Cnidarians Research * ''Yunnanoascus haikouensis'', previously thought to be a member of Ctenophora, is reinterpreted as a Crown group, crown-group medusozoan by Han ''et al.'' (2016). * A study on the fossil corals fro ...


References

Abelisauridae Dinosaur genera Santonian dinosaurs Bajo de la Carpa Formation Fossil taxa described in 2016 Dinosaurs of Argentina {{theropod-stub