About
Carnotaurus was a uniquely bizarre predator that stalked the floodplains of Late Cretaceous Argentina between 69 and 66 million years ago. This is instantly recognizable by the two thick, bull-like horns projecting above its eyesâa feature that inspired its name, meaning "meat-eating bull." Its skull was unusually short and deep, with a blunt snout that gave it a distinctive face unlike the elongated heads of most theropods.
Perhaps the most striking feature of Carnotaurus was its remarkably reduced forelimbs. While T. rex is famous for its small arms, Carnotaurus took this to an extremeâits arms were proportionally even smaller and essentially , with four tiny fingers and virtually no elbow mobility. Scientists believe these arms served no functional purpose in hunting or feeding. In contrast, its powerful legs suggest it was built for pursuit, with some biomechanical studies indicating it could have been among the fastest large theropods.
The only known specimen was discovered in 1984 by JosĂ© Bonaparte's team in Patagonia's Chubut Province, Argentina. This remarkably complete skeleton, found in the La Colonia Formation, included extensive skin impressionsâa rare treasure that revealed Carnotaurus was covered in large, non-overlapping scales arranged in rows, with no evidence of feathers. This discovery has made Carnotaurus one of the best-understood large theropods from the Southern Hemisphere.
Carnotaurus belonged to the Abelisauridae, the dominant large predators of the southern supercontinent during the Late Cretaceous. While tyrannosaurs ruled the north, abelisaurids like Carnotaurus filled the role in South America, Madagascar, and India. Its horns remain enigmaticâtoo small for effective combat, they may have been used in or species recognition.
Explore the anatomy
5 featuresTwo thick, bony horns stick out above the eyesâtotally unique among meat-eating dinosaurs and the reason for the name Carnotaurus ("meat-eating bull"). These solid bone horns were probably too small to be weapons, so they were likely used to show off to other Carnotaurus or help them recognize each other.
Instead of the long, flat head most big predatory dinosaurs had, Carnotaurus rocked an unusually short, tall skull with a blunt snoutâone of the stubbiest faces in its whole dinosaur family. Scientists think this shape was built for quick, snappy bites rather than crushing power, hinting at a specialized hunting style.
These are the most ridiculously shrunken arms of any big meat-eating dinosaurâeven tinier than T. rex's famous stubby limbs! The lower arm bones were fused together and couldn't move, and the four stumpy fingers had no muscle for grabbing anything. These arms were basically just leftovers from evolution, completely useless.
The back legs feature extra-long lower bones (the shin and foot bones), a body plan that screams "built for speed" in two-legged runners. Computer models suggest Carnotaurus could have hit speeds over 48 km/h (30 mph), making it one of the fastest big predatory dinosaurs ever discovered!
The original fossil preserved amazing skin impressions across the neck and body, showing rows of large, bumpy scales mixed with patches of smaller flat onesâand zero evidence of feathers anywhere. This makes Carnotaurus one of the rare dinosaurs where we actually know what its skin looked like, proving some big southern predators stayed fully scaly right up until the end of the dinosaur age.
Where fossils were found
La Colonia Formation
Chubut · Argentina
72.2â66 million years ago(6.2m year span)
Where Carnotaurus Roamed
During the late Cretaceous period, Carnotaurus roamed the ancient landscapes of southern Gondwana in what is now Patagonia, Argentina, where seasonal floodplains and river systems carved through a semi-arid environment. This region lay far from the retreating shallow seas, featuring volcanic highlands and coastal plains that supported a diverse ecosystem of titanosaur sauropods and other distinctive South American fauna.
Keep exploring the vault
Saltasaurus
Saltasaurus loricatus
Saltasaurus was a titanosaur from Late Cretaceous South America, overlapping temporally and geographically with Carnotaurus.
Megaraptor
Megaraptor namunhuaiquii
Both were large theropods from Late Cretaceous Argentina.
T-Rex
Tyrannosaurus rex
Carnotaurus and T. rex represent convergent evolution of apex predator theropods on separate continents â Carnotaurus in South America (Abelisauridae) and T. rex in North America (Tyrannosauridae).
Majungasaurus
Majungasaurus crenatissimus
Same family: Abelisauridae
Abelisaurus
Same family: Abelisauridae
Ceratosaurus
Ceratosaurus nasicornis
Both are ceratosaurian theropods with distinctive cranial ornamentation (nasal horn in Ceratosaurus, paired brow horns in Carnotaurus).