Taurovenator, from Latin taurus, meaning "bull", and venator, meaning "hunter", is an extinct genus of large, probable carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now Argentina during the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous, around 106.2 million years ago. Initially only known from a single postorbital skull bone described from the Huincul Formation, Taurovenator violantei was named in 2016 by Argentine paleontologist Matias Motta and colleagues. Debate came about over the validity of the species, with some paleontologists arguing that Taurovenator was synonymous with the earlier-named carcharodontosaurid Mapusaurus. However, the 2024 description of a well-preserved partial skull and skeleton referrable to Taurovenator aided in distinguishing the two taxa.
Discovery and naming
Initial discovery and description In 2005, a right postorbital of a theropod dinosaur was unearthed by Argentine paleontologist Matias Motta from a section of sandstone strata deriving from the lower member of the Huincul Formation, dating to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous (95-93.9 million years old). The strata located on the Violante Farm, a farm located in Rio Negro Province, Argentina. This fossil was found in the vicinity of the megaraptoran Aoniraptor, several abelisauroids, and a possible unenlagiine paravian. The fossils recovered were then transported to the Museo Provincial "Carlos Ameghino", with the isolated postorbital deposited under catalogue number MPCA-Pv 803. This postorbital remained undescribed until in 2016, when Matias Motta and colleagues described the postorbital as the holotype (name-bearing specimen) of a new genus and species of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur, Taurovenator violantei. Taurovenator was then the second carcharodontosaurid described from the Huincul Formation, with Mapusaurus named in 2006 based on several incomplete skeletons. The generic name Taurovenator means "bull hunter", derived from the Latin roots taurus "bull" and venor "hunter" whereas the specific name is in honor of Violante Farm where the postorbital was unearthed.
Validity debate and additional specimen Taurovenator went largely unnoticed due to its fragmentary nature, with Coria et al. (2019) suggesting that Taurovenator is synonymous with Mapusaurus, considering both of its original autapomorphies as shared with Mapusaurus and also pointing out that both taxa shared a curved lateral margin of the palpebral. Additionally, the authors considered that there was a high likelihood of them being coeval, however, Taurovenator is actually from the lower unit of the Huincul Formation, while Mapusaurus is from the upper unit of the formation. Researcher Mickey Mortimer also believed that Taurovenator was synonymous with Mapusaurus due to the lack of sufficient material and diagnostic traits for the genus. In 2022, another carcharodontosaurid from the Huincul Formation, Meraxes, was named on the basis of a well-preserved skull and partial skeleton from the same strata as Taurovenator. In their description of Meraxes, the authors stated that Taurovenator lacks sufficient diagnostic characters and may be coeval with Meraxes. Notably in the same site on Violante Farm as the Taurovenator holotype, an associated skeleton (MPCA-Pv 803) including a partial skull and posterior (back portion) mandible, incomplete cervical (neck vertebrae) series, fragments of dorsal (back) vertebrae, several ribs, two partial forelimbs, a femur (thighbone), a partial pes (foot), gastralia, and a caudal vertebra was unearthed along with the Taurovenator holotype in 2005 but were regarded as belonging to an indeterminate carcharodontosaurid in the 2016 description of Taurovenator. Additionally, the material of MPCA-Pv 803 had not been completely collected, prepared, or made available for study, delaying its description. These fossils were also spread out over a sizeable area and intermingled with bones of an indeterminate sauropod. In 2024, this specimen was described and, despite not overlapping in material with the holotype, was referred to Taurovenator. This was done for several reasons: the holotype fits perfectly with MPCA-Pv 803 suggesting they may be from the same individual, the close proximity to the holotype (the specimen was found 800 metres (870 yd) away from the holotype's dig site, and the fossils are congruent in size. In an analysis of the strata from which the holotype was discovered, the 2024 study noted that the Huincul Formation is separated into two distinct sequences; a lower section of thin, multicolored sandstones and an upper section of thick conglomeratic sediments. Mapusaurus derives from the upper sequence of the formation, whereas Meraxes and Taurovenator are exclusive to the lower rock layers. Meraxes, however, was collected in strata close to the Candeleros-Huincul Formation boundary, whereas Taurovenator's specimens were found over 30 meters above the Candeleros-Huincul Formation limit. It is for these reasons that the three carcharodontosaurids found at Huincul were potentially not coeval, supporting the argument for Taurovenator's validity. Additionally, the holotype preserve features of the Giganotosaurini, further supporting its referral to Taurovenator. A new host of diagnostic traits were found on the bones of MPCA-Pv 803, properly demonstrating its distinctiveness from Mapusaurus and Meraxes.
Description Taurovenator is a very large carcharodontosaurid. It had an estimated body mass of 5,728 kg (12,628 lb), 5.728 metric tons (6.314 short tons), based on a formula that utilizes the circumference of the femur to predict body mass. For reference, this is smaller than Giganotosaurus 6,349 kilograms (13,997 lb), but larger than Meraxes and Mapusaurus, 4,263 kilograms (9,398 lb) and 4,343 kilograms (9,575 lb), respectively). This puts Taurovenator among the largest theropod dinosaurs known and therefore one of the biggest terrestrial carnivores known to science, though still smaller than genera like Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus.
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