Ceratosaurus -- The Dinosauricon

	*Ceratosaurus* "horned lizard"
	[ Measurements \| Time \| Place \| Remains \| Essay \| Images ]

CLASSIFICATION

Ceratosaurus Marsh, 1884

TYPE SPECIES:

C. nasicornis Marsh, 1884 "nose-horned horned lizard"
OTHER SPECIES:
C. dentisulcatus Madsen & Welles, 2000
C. ingens (Janensch, 1920) Paul, 1988 [nomen dubium] (originally Megalosaurus)
C. magnicornis Madsen & Welles, 2000 "big-horned horned lizard"
?C. meriani (Greppin, 1870) [nomen dubium] (originally Megalosaurus)
C. roechlingi Janensch, 1925 [nomen dubium]

MISASSIGNED SPECIES:
C. willisobrienorum Welles, H. P. Powell & Pickering vide Pickering, 1995 [nomen nudum] "Willis O'Brien's studio's horned lizard" == C. magnicornis

Animalia
Vertebrata
Tetrapoda
Sauropsida
Archosauromorpha
Ornithodira
Dinosauria
Theropoda
Neoceratosauria

see also: Genus Index, Classification

MEASUREMENTS

LENGTH:

C. nasicornis: 4.5 m to 6 m

MASS:

C. nasicornis: 500 kg to 1 tonne
C. ingens: ?5 tonnes

see also: World Records

TIME

Tithonian

see also: Ages of the Mesozoic

PLACE

C. nasicornis: Colorado, Utah
C. dentisulcatus: Utah
C. ingens: Tanzania
C. magnicornis: U.S.A.

see also: Paleo-Maps

REMAINS

C. nasicornis
- several specimens
C. ingens
- teeth
C. magnicornis
- skull, several specimens
C. meriani
- tooth

see also: Anatomy

ESSAY

Ceratosaurus was a common Jurassic predator that sported a large horn on the snout and two smaller ones above the eyes.

C. ingens may have been a humongous African ceratosaur, among the largest of theropods.

C. magnicornis and C. dentisulcatus may be junior synonyms of C. nasicornis.

IMAGES

Click on thumbnail to see full image.


BRENDAN SMITH Photography	the skeleton of *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*

DAVID SCOTT Digital (Two-Dimensional)	the head of *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*

SHIRAISHI MINEO Digital (Two-Dimensional)	the grinning maw of *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*

TODD MARSHALL Pencil	A *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* guards an ichthyosaur carcass while rhamphorhynchids fly in the background.

JOSEF MORAVEC Paint	Jurassic carnivore *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*	(Since this image was created, it has become clear that the posture of this animal was more horizontal.)

MARCO AUDITORE Ink	restoration of the skull of *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*	(based on the holotype and the skull on page 74 of Glut's "Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, Supplement 1")

SHIRAISHI MINEO Digital (Two-Dimensional)	horned predator *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*	(The fourth (outer) finger of this animal did not have a claw.)

SHIRAISHI MINEO Digital (Two-Dimensional)	*Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* on the go	(The fourth (outer) finger of this animal did not have a claw.)

NICHOLAS DOLLAK Paint	A *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* prowls a forest at dusk, while *Ornitholestes* *hermanni* stalk rodent-like mammals in the trees.

KELLY E. TAYLOR Paint	*Stegosaurus* *ungulatus* and *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* do battle.	(The fourth (outer) finger of *Ceratosaurus* did not have a claw.)

JOSEF MORAVEC Paint	Jurassic scene: *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* vs. *Stegosaurus* *armatus*

T. MICHAEL KEESEY Digital (Three-Dimensional)	A family of *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* cross the plains of Jurassic North America.

JULIUS CSOTONYI Ink	sundry theropods I. *Alvarezsaurus* *calvoi* II. *Coelophysis* *bauri* III. *Baryonyx* *walkeri* IV. *Oviraptor* *philoceratops* V. Aublysodon mirandis VI. *Anserimimus* *planinychus* VII. *Avimimus* *portentosus* VIII. *Compsognathus* *longipes* IX. *Carnotaurus* *sastrei* X. *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis*	(These are not to the same scale. *Alvarezsaurus* may have been a bird, and therefore feathered.)

JULIUS CSOTONYI Ink	several theropods from different time periods and places: *Ceratosaurus* *nasicornis* (reclined) *Dilophosaurus* *wetherilli* (immediately behind *Ceratosaurus) Spinosaurus* *aegyptiacus* (immediately behind *Dilophosaurus) Tyrannosaurus* *rex* (immediately behind *Spinosaurus) Herrerasaurus* *ischigualastensis* (far left) *Yangchuanosaurus* *shangyouensis* (immediately to the right of *Herrerasaurus*)