Genus
Valid Extinct

Arcovenator

Tortosa et al. 2014

Arcovenator is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs hailing from the Late Cretaceous of France and possibly Spain. The type and only described species is Arcovenator escotae. Its name derives from the river Arc flowing near the site of its first discovery.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Arcovenator
click to enlarge
Arcovenator escotae (Theropoda, Abelisauridae), braincase (MHNAix-PV 2011-12) in dorsal view (Lower Argiles Rutilantes Formation, Jas Neuf Sud, Var) © Zoltan Csiki-Sava, Eric Buffetaut, Attila Ősi, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola, Stephen L. Brusatte · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
›
Theropoda Unranked clade
›
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
›
Averostra Unranked clade
›
Ceratosauria Suborder
›
Abelisauridae Family
›
Carnotaurinae Subfamily
›
Majungasaurini Tribe
›
Arcovenator Genus
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇪🇸 Spain
4
🇫🇷 France
2
Geological formations
Vegas de Matute
1
Vitoria
1
Sierra Perenchiza
1
Sedano
1
Argiles rutilantes
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
1
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
5
Species (1)
Arcovenator escotae 84 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
T. Tortosa, E. Buffetaut, and N. Vialle, Y. Dutour, E. Turini, G. Cheylan. 2014. A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern France: palaeobiogeographical implications. Annales de Paléontologie 100(1):63-86 DOI ↗
Bibliography (4)
E. Isasmendi and E. Malafaia. 2025. New contributions to the knowledge of Abelisauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican landmass. Ameghiniana 62(6):452-479 DOI ↗
E. Isasmendi, A. Torices, and J. I. Canudo, P. J. Currie, X. Pereda-Suberbiola. 2022. Upper Cretaceous European theropod palaeobiodiversity, palaeobiogeography and the intra‐Maastrichtian faunal turnover: new contributions from the Iberian fossil site of Laño. Papers in Palaeontology 8(1):e1419:1-38 DOI ↗
A. Pérez-García, F. Ortega, and A. Bolet, F. Escaso, A. Houssaye, J. Martínez-Salanova, C. de Miguel Chaves, P. Mocho, I. Narváez, M. Segura, A. Torices, D. Vidal, J. L. Sanz. 2016. A review of the upper Campanian vertebrate site of Armuña (Segovia Province, Spain). Cretaceous Research 57:591-623 DOI ↗
T. Tortosa, E. Buffetaut, and N. Vialle, Y. Dutour, E. Turini, G. Cheylan. 2014. A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern France: palaeobiogeographical implications. Annales de Paléontologie 100(1):63-86 DOI ↗