Ostafrikasaurus
| Ostafrikasaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Speculative restoration and holotype tooth | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Family: | Spinosauridae |
| Genus: | Ostafrikasaurus Buffetaut, 2012 |
| Species: | O. crassiserratus
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| Binomial name | |
| Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus Buffetaut, 2012
| |
Ostafrikasaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of southeastern Tanzania.[1] It is known only from a fossil tooth that is 49 mm (1.9 in) long. Paleontologist Eric Buffetaut claims it is the oldest evidence of a Spinosaurid dinosaur (a type of crocodile-like dinosaur that ate fish); it appeared 148 million years ago.[2]
Ostafrikasaurus Media
Werner Janensch during the Tendaguru expedition, 1910
Most of the teeth originally attributed to the same taxon as Ostafrikasaurus teeth are now believed to have represented Ceratosaurus (pictured) or a similar animal
Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus by PaleoGeek
Reconstructed skeleton of Baryonyx, a spinosaurid from the Early Cretaceous of western Europe
Tooth of the related genus Spinosaurus, Museo di Storia Naturale A. Stoppani, Lombardy
Possible spinosaurid tooth from the Middle Jurassic-aged Tiourarén Formation of Niger in multiple views (D1, D2, D3, D4), and a closeup of the serrations (D5)
Depiction of two Dicraeosaurus traversing tidal flats in the Tendaguru Formation
Palaeogeographic locations of spinosaurids (white) and the specimen of HB site (black), through time from Bajocian–Bathonian (A), Tithonian (B), Barremian−Aptian (C), and Albian−Cenomanian (D)
_and_the_specimen_of_HB_site_(black),_through_time_from_Bajocian%E2%80%93Bathonian_(A),_Tithonian_(B),_Barremian%E2%88%92Aptian_(C),_and_Albian%E2%88%92Cenomanian_(D).jpg)
References
- ↑ Buffetaut, Eric. An early spinosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania) and the evolution of the spinosaurid dentition. Oryctos 10 (2012). p. 1–8.
- ↑ Rauhut, Oliver W. M.. Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania). Special Papers in Palaeontology 86 (2011). p. 195–239.