LAJASVENATOR
the first carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina.
Pronunciation: LAH-hass-VEN-uh-tuh
Meaning: Las Lajas hunter
Author/s: Coria
et al. (
2020)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Neuquén, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #1019
Lajasvenator ascheriae
(Las Lajas Hunter)Etymology
Lajasvenator is derived from "Lajas" (for the town of Las Lajas) and the Latin "venator" (hunter), referring to its place of discovery and predatory lifestyle.
The
species epithet,
ascheriae, honours Susana Ascheri, for allowing the authors to work on her land.
Discovery
The first remains of
Lajasvenator were discovered in the Mulichinco Formation at the Pilmatué locality, 9 km northeast of Las Lajas town, Neuquén Province, Argentina, by Rodolfo A. Coria in 2010, mingled with the remains of the dicraeosaurid sauropod
Pilmatueia, indeterminate diplodocid fossils, and an iguanodontian-like ornithopod that was named
Emiliasaura in 2024. Rodolfo Coria (Museo Carmen Funes), Philip Currie, Eva Koppelhus and C. Coy (University of Alberta) and L. Martínez (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”) excavated the specimen in 2010.
The
holotype (MLL-PV-005) includes a partial
skull, four neck vertebrae, ten partial back vertebrae and eight ribs, fragments of sacrum (a block of hip vertebrae), four tail vertebrae, a partial pelvis, and four fragments of possible gastralia (belly ribs).
A referred specimen (MLL-PV-007), including fragments of skull, neck bones and ribs, and a possible foot bone, was found by L. Garat (Universidad Nacional de Río Negro) during the 2012 field season.
Preparators
E. Montes of the Museo Carmen Funes, Plaza Huincul.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Cretaceous
Stage: Valanginian
Age range: 140-133 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: ?
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Coria RA, Ortega F, Currie P, Previtera E and Cárdenas M (2013) "
An Early Cretaceous dinosaur assemblage from the Neuquen Basin, Patagonia, Argentina".
XXVII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados. Ameghiniana 50(4) Supp: R13.
• Coria RA, Currie PJ, Ortega-Coloma and Baiano MA (2017) "
Possible New Evidence of Carcharodontosaurid Theropods from the Mulichinco Formation (Valanginian, Lower Cretaceous), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina".
31st Argentine Meeting of Vertebrate Paleontology. Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina (PE-APA), 18(2) Supp: R20.
• Coria RA, Windholz GJ, Ortega F and Currie PJ (2018) "A new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous (Mulichinco Formation, Valanginian, Neuquén Basin) of Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 93: 33-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.019. [names Pilmatueia.]
• Coria RA, Currie PJ, Ortega F and Baiano MA (2019) "An Early Cretaceous, medium-sized carcharodontosaurid theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Mulichinco Formation (upper Valanginian), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina".
Cretaceous Research, 111: 104319. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104319.
• Coria RA, Cerda IA, Escaso F, Baiano MA, Bellardini F, Braun A, Coria LM, Gutierrez JM, Pino D, Windholz GJ, Currie PJ and Ortega F (2024) "First Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) ornithopod (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from Patagonia".
Cretaceous Research: 106027.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.106027. [names Emiliasaura.]
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
LAJASVENATOR :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/LAJASVENATOR›. Web access: 05th Mar 2026.
