Ceratosaurus

From Freepedia

Ceratosaurus
Conservation status: Fossil

Image:Ceratosaurus.jpg
An old reconstruction of Ceratosaurus as an
erect biped; modern reconstructions have the spine
horizontal, with the large tail counterbalancing
the head and body

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Archosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	Neoceratosauria
Genus:	Ceratosaurus

Binomial name

Ceratosaurus nasicornis
Marsh, 1884

Species

C. nasicornis
C. dentisulcatus
C. magnicornis

Ceratosaurus ("horned lizard") is a predatory dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It is characterized by large jaws with enormous, bladelike teeth, a large, bladelike horn on the snout, and a pair hornlets over the eyes. The forelimbs were powerfully built but very short. The type species is Ceratosaurus nasicornis, although several other species have been named, including C. dentisulcatus and C. magnicornis.

Ceratosaurus is known from the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry in central Utah and Dry Mesa in Colorado. It lived alongside dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. Some suggest it was a rival to Allosaurus.

Ceratosaurus was around 4.5–6 m in size, weighing 500 kg up to 1 tonne. The African C. ingens may have been much larger, with size estimates ranging up to 5 tonnes, which if correct would make it one of the largest of the Theropoda.

Relatives of Ceratosaurus include Elaphrosaurus and the abelisaur Carnotaurus.

Filmography

A Ceratosaurus battles a Triceratops in the 1966 remake of 1 Million Years B.C.. In Jurassic Park III, a Ceratosaurus has a brief appearance. In the film When Dinosaurs Roamed America, a Ceratosaurus makes a few appearances but is later killed by an Allosaurus and eaten.