The Abelisauroid Thread

Interesting that the hands reduced before the arms themselves. Hopefully this discovery can shed some light on that particular mystery. Also, the legs look far more useful for running than the stubby Majungasaurus which came later.

If Majungasaurus, as it appears to be the case, lived in areas prone to excessive drought stubby legs were probably good for walking over very long distances in search of water/food.
What sort of environment did Carnotaurus inhabit?

Adam Khor wrote: »

I don´t know, short stubby legs don´t seem like the ideal thing to me if one's walking long distances...

I recall reading that shorter legs in hominins (different ballpark to dinosaurs I know) made for more energy efficient walking over long distances, while long legs allowed for great sprinting. I wonder if abelisaurids were of a similar persuasion.

[quote=Adam Khor[/quote]
My personal belief is that Carnotaurus was a diurnal, high speed hunter equivalent in many ways to our cheetahs. Fossil evidence supports this; thus, it is most likely that it lived in open habitats, some sort of plain or savannah-like environment and hunted agile, fast prey smaller than itself.[/QUOTE]

I recall you put forward the very interesting idea that Carnotaurus' hornlets were used to prevent glare from the sun, similar to the black spots around cheetahs' eyes.

Adam Khor wrote: »

That's interesting. And puzzling... I would have thought that short legs would be the last one would want to travel long distances... most long distance animals I can think of have long legs, although almost none are quadrupeds, I give you that...
Where did you read that?

In one of the many threads about ancient humans on this very forum if I remember correctly... However, it is entirely possible that I read / am remembering wrong. I can't find anything to support the notion on Google so I may well be mistaken.

[quote=Adam Khor[/quote]
Yes, that's what I believe... unfortunately, no studies were made about Carnotaurus' scleral rings that I know of, so there's no way to confirm it, but I think the horns (combined with the rest of its anatomy) suggests a diurnal lifestyle in an open, posibly very hot environment. Just my idea, of course :pac:[/QUOTE]

Be sure to bookmark this thread so that when it is announced you can say 'I told you so!" :pac:

Would the more robust neck lend itself better to strangling prey? (as has been suggested elsewhere on this forum)

I can definitely see that working; running down smaller prey, grab it, then fling it causing injury. It also means the Carnotaurus doesn't risk injuring itself in a struggle.
Just looking at that skeleton, I'm actually surprised that so many are content to cast Carnotaurus as a scavenger. You don't evolve sexy catwalk legs like that to amble about waiting for things to keel over and die.