Carnotaurus - The Meat-Eating Bull

Hi, welcome to Enchiridion! Today, we will be talking about Carnotaurus, a dinosaur whose distinctive horns gave it its name, which means “meat-eating bull”.

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Carnotaurus was a theropod — part of a group of dinosaurs distinguished by three-toed limbs and hollow bones, including other famous dinosaurs like Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, or Velociraptor. It lived in what was possibly an environment of estuaries, tidal flats, or coastal plains of South America during the Late Cretaceous period, most likely sometime between 71 and 69 million years ago.

A lightly built, bipedal predator, it measured 24.6 to 26.2 feet, or 7.5 to 8 meters in length and weighed at least 1.35 metric tons, or 1.33 long tons, or 1.49 short tons. As a theropod, Carnotaurus was highly specialized and distinctive. It possessed thick horns above the eyes — a rare, unique feature when compared to all other carnivorous dinosaurs, and a very deep skull sitting on a muscular neck. These effective adaptations may have been used in fighting conspecifics. According to other studies, due to necks and skulls which could take stress, it is considered that rivaling individuals may have combated each other with quick head blows, by slow pushes with the upper sides of their skulls, or by ramming each other head-on, using their horns as shock absorbers. This may have been for mates or territory. However, the way in which they headbutted each other is something paleontologists are still unraveling, possibly like giraffes or shoving their heads like marine iguanas.

Carnotaurus was further distinguished by some very funny-looking small, vestigial forelimbs and long, slender hind limbs. In addition, the fingers, which lacked claws, were fused together, meaning they could not move independently from one another. However, the arms were not simply useless evolutionary leftovers, but were rather highly specialized. Carnotaurus’s shoulder ball joint was connected to a highly muscular shoulder girdle and odds are that these would be used for a weird, arm-twirling display of courtship. Carnotaurus may have also flashed colors such as bright blue in its underarms for sexual selection.

Scientists were surprised to find that the skeleton had been preserved with extensive skin impressions, showing a mosaic of small, non-overlapping scales approximately 5 millimeters in diameter. This mosaic pattern of scales was interrupted by large bumps that lined the sides of the animal. Paleontologists that have examined the specimen up close have indicated that there are no traces of feathers, with most agreeing on a scaly covering for this meat-eating bull.

The feeding habits of Carnotaurus remain unclear: some studies suggest the animal was able to hunt down very large prey such as sauropods, while other studies found it preyed mainly on relatively small animals. Its brain cavity suggests an acute sense of smell, while hearing and sight were less developed. Carnotaurus was probably well adapted for running and was possibly one of the fastest large theropods.

Audio Design:
"Jurassic Forest", "Sleeping Leaellynasaura", “End Credits”, “Escape of the Podlets”, “Spirits of the Ice Forest” — Walking With Dinosaurs Soundtrack by Benjamin Bartlett
“Calm Jazz” — No Copyright

Clarifications & Notes:
(1) Abelisauridae was a group of carnivorous bipeds with stocky hind limbs and sizable ornamentation of the skull bones, with many possessing vestigial forelimbs.
(2) The robust skull of Carnotaurus was bizarre in many respects, being proportionally shorter and deeper than in any other large carnivorous dinosaur.

#Enchiridion #DinosaursUnearthed #Carnotaurus #Paleontology
#Dinosaur #Dinosaurs #Abelisaurids #Abelisauridae #Theropod #JurassicWorld #PrehistoricPlanet #MeatEatingBull

Table of Contents:
0:00 - Introductory Story
1:38 - Introduction
6:27 - Discovery
13:21 - Paleobiology; Function of the horns
17:08 - Paleobiology; Jaw function and diet
20:20 - Paleobiology; Locomotion
23:15 - Paleobiology; Brain and senses
25:48 - Description
27:28 - Description; Skull
35:46 - Description; Vertebrae
37:29 - Description; Forelimbs
40:17 - Description; Skin
44:41 - Paleoenvironment
47:34 - Naming
47:57 - Named By
48:04 - Scientific Classification
50:31 - Species
50:36 - Diet
50:48 - Size
51:02 - Weight
51:15 - Known Locations
51:29 - Time Period
51:39 - Fossil Representation
51:54 - Popular Culture
1:02:17 - Conclusion
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Transcript:

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