Torvosaurus

Torvosaurus; Temporal range: Upper Jurassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	Megalosauridae
Genus:	Torvosaurus; Galton & Jensen, 1979

Torvosaurus was a large dinosaur from the end of the Jurassic period. It lived about 153 to 148 million years ago in what is now Colorado and Portugal.

Torvosaurus, possibly the largest carnivore of all time,^[1] was a large, heavily-built, bipedal carnivore. It grew to 9 to 11 meters in length and an estimated weight of about 2 metric tons. Its hands and arms were about average for its size. In proportion to other famous carnivores, Allosaurus had more powerful arms, and Tyrannosaurus had tiny arms.

Studies suggest that the paleoenvironment of this part of the Morrison Formation had rivers flowing from the west into a basin with a giant, saline alkaline lake. There were extensive wetlands nearby. Fossils from the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry of western Colorado show one of the most diverse Upper Jurassic vertebrate assemblages in the world.^[2] The Dry Mesa Quarry has produced the remains of the Jurassic sauropods such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Barosaurus, Supersaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Camarasaurus; the iguanodontid Camptosaurus; and the flesh eating Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus and Ornitholestes, as well as Drinker, Hesperosaurus and Stegosaurus.^[3] It's also known that Torvosaurus may have preyed upon young Barosaurus.

Sexual dimorphism

It's known that male Torvosaurus were different from females. Sometimes, the parent would leave its offspring to get food to the nest.

Media

Torvosaurus appeared in video games and TV shows such as Dinosaur King and Dinosaur Revolution. It made its special screentime in the movie King Kong, during where in the movie, it was billed as a Tyrannosaurus.

References

↑ Hendrickx C. & Mateus O.V. 2014. Torvosaurus, the largest terrestrial predator from the Jurassic, and a proposed terminology of the maxilla anatomy in nonavian theropods. PLoS ONE 9 (3): e88905. [1]
↑ Richmond D.R. & Morris T.H. 1999. Stratigraphy and cataclysmic deposition of the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry, Mesa County, Colorado. In Carpenter K; Kirkland J. and Chure D. eds. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation: An Interdisciplinary Study. Modern Geology 22, no. 1-4, pp. 121–143.
↑ Chure, Daniel J.; et al. (2006). "The fauna and flora of the Morrison Formation: 2006". Paleontology and geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36. Albuquerque, New Mexico. pp. 233–248.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1] Hendrickx C. & Mateus O.V. 2014. Torvosaurus, the largest terrestrial predator from the Jurassic, and a proposed terminology of the maxilla anatomy in nonavian theropods. PLoS ONE 9 (3): e88905. [1]

[2] Richmond D.R. & Morris T.H. 1999. Stratigraphy and cataclysmic deposition of the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry, Mesa County, Colorado. In Carpenter K; Kirkland J. and Chure D. eds. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation: An Interdisciplinary Study. Modern Geology 22, no. 1-4, pp. 121–143.

[DJCetal06-3] Chure, Daniel J.; et al. (2006). "The fauna and flora of the Morrison Formation: 2006". Paleontology and geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36. Albuquerque, New Mexico. pp. 233–248.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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