Carnotaurus sastrei

Overview

Carnotaurus, meaning "meat-eating bull," was one of the most distinctive predatory dinosaurs ever discovered. Living approximately 70 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous in South America (Argentina), this unique theropod is instantly recognizable by its bull-like horns and incredibly tiny arms—even smaller than T. rex's!

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Taxonomy & Classification

• Clade: Theropoda
• Family: Abelisauridae
• Diet: Carnivorous
• Locomotion: Bipedal

Carnotaurus belonged to a group of predators called abelisaurids that dominated the southern continents.

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Physical Characteristics

Size & Build

• Length: 7.5-8 meters (25-26 feet)
• Height: About 3 meters (10 feet)
• Weight: 1,300-2,100 kg (1.5-2.3 tons)
• Build: Surprisingly lightweight and slender for a large predator

The Famous Horns

• Two thick horns above the eyes
• Horns pointed outward and slightly up
• Probably used for:
  • Display to attract mates
  • Combat with rivals (head-butting)
  • Species recognition
• Made it look like a demonic bull!

The Tiniest Arms

Carnotaurus had the smallest arms of any large theropod:

• Only about 30 cm (1 foot) long!
• Four tiny fingers that couldn't grasp anything
• Completely useless for hunting
• Even smaller proportionally than T. rex's arms!
• Scientists debate why they're so small—possibly just evolutionary leftovers

Unique Skin

We know exactly what its skin looked like:

• Scaly with rows of bumps and ridges
• Large, pebbly scales on sides
• One of the best-preserved dinosaur skin impressions!
• No feathers—definitely scaly

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Speed Demon

Built for Speed

Carnotaurus was designed for fast running:

• Long, powerful leg muscles
• Lightweight skeleton
• Stiff tail for balance while running
• Estimated speed: 48-56 km/h (30-35 mph)!
• One of the fastest large predators

Hunting Style

• Chase down prey at high speed
• Use jaws to slash and wound
• Not a tackle-and-grab hunter
• May have ambushed prey from hiding

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The Incredible Fossil

Almost Complete!

The Carnotaurus skeleton is special:

• Found in Argentina in 1984
• Nearly complete skeleton
• Skin impressions preserved!
• One of the best-known abelisaurids
• Named sastrei after the rancher who found it

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Diet & Hunting

What Did It Eat?

Carnotaurus likely hunted:

• Small to medium dinosaurs
• Young sauropods
• May have scavenged when possible
• Probably couldn't take down very large prey due to its lighter build

Weak Bite, Fast Strike

• Bite force was relatively weak for its size
• Made up for it with speed and repeated bites
• Skull could withstand high-speed impacts
• Like a living battering ram!

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Pop Culture Fame

Movie Star

• The villain dinosaur in Disney's Dinosaur (2000)
• Appears in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
• Featured in Jurassic World Dominion
• One of the most popular non-tyrannosaur predators

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Cool Facts

• Its horns are solid bone, not keratin like bull horns
• Carnotaurus could run faster than a professional cyclist!
• Its arms are so small they literally couldn't reach its mouth
• We know more about its skin than almost any other dinosaur
• The only large theropod with preserved scales all over
• Its skull was short and deep—shaped like a bulldog's face
• Despite the scary horns, its bite was relatively weak

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Carnotaurus was a speed demon of the Cretaceous—a horned, fast-running predator that proves dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes!