Dracovenator
Name:
Dracovenator
(Dragon hunter).
Phonetic: Dray-ko-ven-ah-tor.
Named By: A. M. Yates - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Theropoda, Dilophosauridae.
Species: D. regenti (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of more complete
remains, but roughly estimated about 5.5 to 6.5 meters long.
Known locations: South Africa - Elliot Formation.
Time period: Hettangian-Sinemurian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Skull fragments including
parts of the maxilla, the premaxilla and part of a mandible (lower
jaw).
Although pieced together and described from very incomplete skull material, Dracovenator has been identified as being similar to Dilophosaurus. With this in mind the 2006 description of Dracovenator saw it classified as a dilphosaurid and related to Dilophosaurus from North America, and Zupaysaurus from South America, though not all palaeontologists are convinced about the assessment of Zupaysaurus as a dilophosaurid. Dracovenator may have hunted sauropodomorph dinosaurs such as Massospondylus as well as early ornithischians such as Lesothosaurus.
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