Ceratosaurus gives its name to the Ceratosauria, a clade of theropods that diverged early from the evolutionary lineage leading to modern birds. It may have preyed upon plant-eating dinosaurs, although some paleontologists suggested that it hunted aquatic prey such as fish. It had a prominent, ridge-like horn on the midline of the snout and a pair of horns over the eyes.
About Ceratosaurus in brief
Ceratosaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur in the Late Jurassic period. It was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete skeleton discovered in Garden Park, Colorado. Ceratosaurus gives its name to the Ceratosauria, a clade of theropods that diverged early from the evolutionary lineage leading to modern birds. The original specimen is estimated to be 5.3 m or 5. 69 m long, while the specimen described as C. dentisulcatus was larger, at around 7 m long. It may have preyed upon plant-eating dinosaurs, although some paleontologists suggested that it hunted aquatic prey such as fish. The nasal horn was probably not used as a weapon as was originally suggested by Marsh, but more likely was used solely for display. The exact number of vertebrae is unknown due to several gaps in the spine of the front and back. At least 20 vertebraes formed the front of the neck and back in the front, and at least 20 in the back of the back. It is thought to have weighed about 600 kg in weight, although estimates have not been published. It had a prominent, ridge-like horn on the midline of the snout, and a pair of horns over the eyes. The forelimbs were very short, but remained fully functional; the hand had four fingers. The tail was deep from top to bottom, with a row of small osteoderms present down the middle of the head, neck, back, and tail.
It moved on powerful hind legs, while its arms were reduced in size. Its weight was calculated at 980 kg, 452 kg and 700 kg in separate works. The second skeleton, MWC WC 1, was somewhat smaller than the first, and might be the largest yet discovered. Another specimen discovered in Portugal in 2000, estimated at 6m in length and 600 kg in weight. It has been claimed to be the larger yet discovered, although Estimates have not yet been published : 192. : 115 Whether this animal was fully grown is not clear. Whether this specimen weighed about half as much as the contemporary Allosaurus. is not known. It could have been as large as the modern Allosaurus, which is around 5.5 m in length. The first specimen was excavated and described from the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal, providing evidence for the presence of the genus outside of North America. Fragmentary remains have also been reported from Tanzania, Uruguay, and Switzerland. The validity of these additional species has been questioned, however, and all three skeletons possibly represent different growth stages of the same species. The geologically older genus Proceratosaurus from England, although originally described as a presumed antecedent of Ceratososaurus, was later found to be unrelated. The third, yet undescribed, specimen, is yet to be published.
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This page is based on the article Ceratosaurus published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
