a baryonychine theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Laos.
Pronunciation: ik-thee-OH-veh-NAY-tuhr
Meaning: Fish hunter
Author/s: Allain
et al. (
2012)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Savannakhet, Laos
Discovery Chart Position: #803
Ichthyovenator laosensis
(Fish hunter from Laos)
Etymology
Ichthyovenator is derived from the Greek "ichthys" (fish), and the Latin "venator" (hunter), in reference to its assumed piscivorous (fish eating) tendencies.
The
species epithet,
laosensis, refers to its discovery in Laos.
Discovery
The first remains of
Ichthyovenator were discovered at Ban Kalum in the Grès supérieurs Formation of the Savannakhet Basin, Savannakhet Province, Laos,
in 2010.
The
holotype (MDS BK10-01-15) is a well-preserved skeleton, minus the skull and limbs.
New excavations at the same site in 2012 led to the discovery of more fossils, including a complete neck skeleton, a left pubis, seven tail vertebrae, three teeth, and the
first back vertebra which is nearly identical to the holotype vertebra
of the enigmatic theropod
Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis from the Cenomanian 'Kem Kem
beds' of Morocco, that has long been entangled with
Spinosaurus. These later discoveries allowed referral of isolated theropod teeth and
vertebrae, previously collected in various localities of the Savannakhet basin, to
Ichthyovenator.
• Holtz jr TR (1998) "Spinosaurs as crocodile mimics".
Science, 282(5392): 1276–1277. DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5392.1276.
• Allain R, Xaisanavong T, Richir P and Khentavong B (2012) "
The first definitive Asian spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the early cretaceous of Laos".
Naturwissenschaften, 99(5): 369–377. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0911-7.
• Allain R (2014) "
New material of the theropod Ichthyovenator from Ban Kalum type locality (Laos): Implications for the synonymy of Spinosaurus and Sigilmassasaurus and the phylogeny of Spinosauridae".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Programs and Abstracts. 74: 78.
• Evers SW, Rauhut OWM, Milner AC, McFeeters B and Allain R (2015) "A reappraisal of the morphology and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur
Sigilmassasaurus from the "middle" Cretaceous of Morocco".
PeerJ. 3: e1323. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1323.
• Paul GS (2016) "
The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs: Second Edition".
• Hone DWE and Holtz jr TR (2017) "
A century of spinosaurs – a review and revision of the Spinosauridae with comments on their ecology".
Acta Geologica Sinica – English Edition, 91(3): 1120–1132. DOI: 10.1111/1755-6724.13328.
• Arden TMS, Klein CG, Zouhri SA and Longrich NR (2018) "Aquatic adaptation in the skull of carnivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) and the evolution of aquatic habits in
Spinosaurus".
Cretaceous Research, 93: 275-284. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.013.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
ICHTHYOVENATOR :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/ICHTHYOVENATOR›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
