| Skorpiovenator Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 95 Ma |
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|---|---|
| Cast of the holotype specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Carnotaurinae |
| clade: | †Brachyrostra |
| Genus: | †Skorpiovenator Canale et al., 2009 |
| Species: | †S. bustingorryi |
| Binomial name | |
| Skorpiovenator bustingorryi Canale et al., 2009 |
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Skorpiovenator is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of Argentina.
The type species, Skorpiovenator bustingorryi, is known from a single, nearly complete skeleton missing only most of the forelimbs and parts of the tail. The specimen was recovered from the lower part of the Huincul Formation in Patagonia, dating to the late Cenomanian stage, about 95 million years ago. It would have lived alongside other carnivorous dinosaurs such as the carcharodontosaurid Mapusaurus and another abelisaurid, Ilokelesia.[1]
The type specimen was described and named by Canale, Scanferla, Agnolin, and Novas in 2009 (though the paper was released as an advanced publication online in 2008). The name Skorpiovenator bustingorryi is derived from the Greek and Latin for "scorpion hunter," due to the abundant scorpions present at the dig site, and the specific name honors Manuel Bustingorry, who owned the farm where the specimen was found.[1] The describers have defined a new name Brachyrostra for a clade, to which Skorpiovenator belonged.[1]