ASFALTOVENATOR
a possible allosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Argentina.
Pronunciation:
Meaning: Cañadón Asfalto hunter
Author/s: Rauhut and Pol (
2019)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Chubut, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #1013
Asfaltovenator vialidadi
Etymology
Asfaltovenator is derived from "Asfalto" (referring to the Cañadón Asfalto Formation) and the Latin "venator" (hunter).
The
species epithet,
vialidadi, honours the Dirección Nacional de
Vialidad for assisting the Museo Paleontológico "Egidio Feruglio" in recovering the fossils.
Discovery
The remains of
Asfaltovenator were discovered in the Cañadón Asfalto Formation 1.6 km NE of the village of Cerro Cóndor, Chubut Province, Argentina, by Leandro Canesa in 2002.
The
holotype (MPEF PV 3440) is an almost complete skull (75–80 cm long) and partial skeleton, including 10 neck and 13 back vertebrae, both shoulder girdles and forelimbs, the bottom end of a right thigh, the top ends of a right shin and calf, and a poorly preserved partial right foot.
Preparators
Mariano Caffa.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Jurassic
Stage: Toarcian
Age range: 179-178 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 8 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Rauhut OWM and Pol D (2019) "Probable basal allosauroid from the early Middle Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation of Argentina highlights phylogenetic uncertainty in tetanuran theropod dinosaurs".
Scientific Reports, 9(1): 18826. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53672-7. [Image Credit.]
• Cuesta E, Pol D and Rauhut OWM (2024) "'Going around in the head' of
Asfaltovenator: new data on the skull of the type specimen of the Patagonian allosauroid (Early Jurassic)".
EAVP2024 Abstract book and programme, 18(1): 10–11.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
ASFALTOVENATOR :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/ASFALTOVENATOR›. Web access: 07th Mar 2026.
