***Ichthyovenator*** was a meat-eating theropod dinosaur. It was from the Early Cretaceous, about 113 to 125 million years ago. Its fossils were found in Laos in 2010. *Ichthyovenator* was a spinosaurid, they were crocodile-like dinosaurs that ate fish.

It is one of three spinosaurids found in Asia, the other two are Siamosaurus, and "Sinopliosaurus" fusuiensis.

Discovery and naming
--------------------

Some of the known bones of *Ichthyovenator*, the holotype specimen is in white and undescribed fossils are in redThe first parts of the skeleton were found in 2010. They include: One rib, part of the animal's backbones (or vertebra), and most hip bones. They did not find the skull.

The only known species is *Ichthyovenator laosensis.* It was named and described by Ronan Allain and his colleagues in 2012. It was found in the Grès supérieurs Formation.

The name *Ichthyovenator* comes from the Greek word for "fish" and the Latin word for "hunter", The name refers to the fact that it ate fish. The species name is *laosensis*, because it lived in what is now Laos.

While *Ichthyovenator* was being described, paleontologists were still digging up more of its bones.

Ronan Allain was one of *Ichthyovenator's* original describers. In 2014, he mentioned that more of *Icthyovenator's* skeleton was dug up in 2012. He wrote this in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. These new bones include: several teeth, a hip bone, most neck bones, and a few back and tail bones. The description of the new bones has not been officially published.

In 2015, some of *Ichthyovenator's* bones were compared to the ones of *Sigilmassasaurus. Sigilmassasaurus* is another spinosaurid.

Description
-----------

Size of *Ichthyovenator* (in turquoise, first from right) and other spinosaurids compared to a humanPaleontologists estimate *Ichthyovenator* was about 8.5 metres (28 feet) long. That's about as big as Baryonyx, one of its close relatives.

It had a half-meter sail or hump on its back, similar to *Suchomimus*, or *Spinosaurus*. Ichthyovenator's sail was unusual because it was split in two at the hips. Scientists don't know why it was like that.

Classification
--------------

Speculative life restoration of *Ichthyovenator laosensis*, the head and limbs are based on relatives
*Ichthyovenator* was first classified as a spinosaurid, inside the subfamily baryonychinae. This is the same subfamily that includes *Baryonyx* and *Suchomimus*.

In 2014 it was found that *Ichthyovenator* was part of the subfamily spinosaurinae instead. This was because of specific features on its teeth, and because its backbones look much like the ones of *Sigilmassasaurus*.

Some sources say *Ichthyovenator* might not have been a spinosaurid. They say it may have been a sail-backed carcharodontosaurid, and that it was related to *Concavenator*. But this hypothesis has not been published in an academic place.

The diagram below is called a cladogram. It shows how *Ichthyovenator* is related to other dinosaurs in its family tree. This cladogram is by Allain *et al.* (2012):

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Spinosauroidea | 

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Megalosauria | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | *Torvosaurus* |
|  |
|  | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | *Eustreptospondylus* |
|  |
|  | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | *Dubreuillosaurus* |
|  |
|  | *Afrovenator*  |
|  |

 |
|  |

 |
|  |

 |
|  |
| Spinosauridae | 

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | *Irritator* |
|  |
|  | *Spinosaurus* |
|  |

 |
|  |
|  | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | ***Ichthyovenator***  |
|  |
|  | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|  | *Suchomimus* |
|  |
|  | *Baryonyx* |
|  |

 |
|  |

 |
|  |

 |
|  |

 |
|  |

Other websites
--------------

 Data related to Ichthyovenator at Wikispecies