Carnotaurus

dinosaur · predator · South America · Late Cretaceous

Horned meat-eater. Carnotaurus was a theropod dinosaur with two large horns above its eyes, kind of like a bull, which is where it got its name meaning "meat bull." It lived in South America between 69 and 66 million years ago, right before dinosaurs went extinct.

Southern superstar. Scientists know more about Carnotaurus than most southern dinosaurs because they found one nearly complete skeleton in Argentina in 1984. This makes it one of the best-understood theropods from the Southern Hemisphere.

Top predator. Carnotaurus was part of a family called Abelisauridae, which were the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs living on the southern continents during the Late Cretaceous. It was the apex predator of its time and place.

Short-snouted hunter. Unlike some other theropods with long snouts, Carnotaurus had a shorter face, which helped it bite with more force. This short-faced design was special to South American abelisaurs like Carnotaurus.