Dracovenator

Opisthokonta

Dracovenator Temporal range: Early Jurassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	†Dilophosauridae
Genus:	†Dracovenator Yates, 2006
Species:	†D. regenti Yates, 2006

Dracovenator is the name of a genus of dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was a theropod which lived in what is now South Africa.

The type species, Dracovenator regenti, was formally described by A.M. Yates in 2006. The genus name is a contraction of the Latin draco, "dragon", and venator, "hunter". Found in the Elliot Formation, it was according to a first cladistic analysis forming a clade with the basal theropods Dilophosaurus and Zupaysaurus in this analysis. Only a partial skull has been recovered.

Dracovenator is estimated to have measured between 5.5 and 6.5 meters (18 and 21 feet) in length.^[1]

References

1. ^ Smith, N.D., Makovicky, P.J., Pol, D., Hammer, W.R., and Currie, P.J. (2007). "The Dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Central Transantarctic Mountains: Phylogenetic Review and Synthesis". U.S. Geological Survey and The National Academies doi:10.3133/of2007-1047.srp003

• Yates, A.M. 2006 (for 2005). "A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods." Palaeontologia africana, 41: 105-122.

External links

• Dinosaur Mailing List announcing discovery (includes full abstract).

Dinosaurs portal