"African Hunter" 
Illustration by C. Abraczinskas
and P. Sereno
Type: theropod,
meat eater
Age: 135 million
years old
Height
at hip: 8 feet
Length: 27 feet
Discovery
site: Niger,
West Africa
Photo © P. Sereno
Notes:
Afrovenator
was discovered in 1993.
It is the most complete predatory dinosaur from
the Cretaceous period ever discovered in Africa.
Afrovenator's skull has rows of long, blade-shaped
teeth for slicing into prey. Afrovenator's bones
reveal that it was a cousin to Allosaurus, a 150-million
year old dinosaur that lived in North America, however,
Afrovenator has longer, more slender bones and was
likely more light-weight and fleet footed than Allosaurus. |
