Australovenator

*Australovenator wintonensis*

***Australovenator*** is an extinct genus of derived theropod dinosaur from the from the Late Albian of the Cretaceous of Australia. belonging to the Megaraptora. It was described in the online journal *PLoS ONE* in 2009. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains.

The species is named in 2009 by the Australian palaeontologist and museum curator Scott Hocknull. The generic name means "southern hunter" in Latin, a reference to where Australia and the fact that it is a theropod. The specific epithet refers to the fossil formation it was discovered in, the Winton Formation. The species was informally named "Banjo" by Banjo Paterson, author of the Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda.

## Description and history

*Australovenator* is based on AODL 604, a partial skeleton including a left dentary, teeth, partial forelimbs and hindlimbs, a partial right ilium, ribs, and gastralia. *Australovenator* was described in 2009 by Dr. Scott Hocknull and colleagues. The type species is *A. wintonensis*, in reference to nearby Winton. A phylogenetic analysis found *Australovenator* to be an allosauroid carnosaurian, with similarities to *Fukuiraptor* and carcharodontosaurids. The ankles of *Australovenator* and *Fukuiraptor* are similar to the Australian talus bone known as *Allosaurus* sp.

Although the holotype is fragmentary, it represents the most complete theropod from Austrlia to date. It appears to be similar in morphology to *Allosaurus* and *Fukuiraptor*, as well as certain features on the charcharodontosaurid *Neovenator*. According to a cladistic analysis, *Australovenator* a relatively derived member of the Allosauroidea.

## Classification

Remains of the animal include an astralagus from Cape Peterson, Victoria, Australia, and was suggested to indicate that Australia was a type of refugium for animals that had gone extinct in other locations and assigning it to *Allosaurus*. However, Samuel Welles refuted the evidence, citing it appeared like an ornithomimid, with the original authors defending their claims. Fifteen years later, Daniel Chure examined the fossil, finding it was not *Allosaurus*, but was an allosauroid. In the description of *Fukuiraptor*, Yoichi Azuma and Phil Currie noted it bore resemblance to their genus. Sometimes, said specimen is given the museum name of *Allosaurus* "robustus". Hocknull et al. in PLoS ONE (2009) argue the specimen is of *Australovenator* and has been variously called *A.* sp. since.

## Paleobiology

*Australovenator* was a medium-sized allosauroid. According to Dr. Hocknull, it was 2 meters (6.6 ft) tall at the hip and 6 meters (20 ft) long. Because it was a lightweight predator, he coined it as the "cheetah of its time".

**AODL 604** was found about 60 kilometers (37 mi) northwest of Winton, near Elderslie Station. It was recovered from the lower part of the Winton Formation, dated to the latest Albian. AODL 604 was found in a clay layer between sandstone layers, interpreted as an oxbow lake deposit. Also found at the site were the type specimen of the sauropod *Diamantinasaurus*, bivalves, fish, turtles, crocodilians, and plant fossils. The Winton Formation had a faunal assemblage including bivalves, gastropods, insects, the lungfish *Metaceratodus*, turtles, the crocodilian *Isisfordia*, pterosaurs, and several types of dinosaurs, such as the sauropods *Diamantinasaurus* and *Wintonotitan*, and unnamed ankylosaurians and hypsilophodonts. Plants known from the formation include ferns, ginkgoes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Like other carnosaurians, *Australovenator* would have been a bipedal carnivore.

## References

1. ↑ Hocknull SA, White MA, Tischler TR, Cook AG, Calleja ND, *et al.* 2009. New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia. *PLoS ONE* **4**(7): e6190, Template:DOI
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Template:Cite journal
3. ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115518108565427
4. ↑ Allosaurus (Saurischia, Theropoda) not yet in Australia, Samuel P. Welles, 1983
5. ↑ Aussie Allosaurus after all, Ralph E. Molnar; Timothy F. Flannery and Thomas H. V. Rich, 1985
6. ↑ A reassessment of the Australian Allosaurus and its implications for the Australian refugium concept, Daniel J. Chure, 1998
7. ↑ A new carnosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Japan, Yoichi Azuma, Phillip J. Currie, 2000
8. ↑ Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia (3rd supplement), pages 221-223, Donald F. Glut, 2003
9. ↑ New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia, Hocknull; White; Tischler; Calleja and Cook et al., 2009
10. ↑ Scientists discover 3 new Aussie dinosaurs. ABC News. July 3, 2009
11. ↑ Template:Cite book