Ceratosaurus nasicornis - Art Print 13" x 19"
156-145 million years ago

Ceratosaurus nasicornis - Jurassic period. Printed on premium glossy photo paper. Original oil painting by Josef Moravec. Ceratosaurus is in the art collection of Dinosaur Corporation.

CERATOSAURUS nasicornis This powerful predator was the largest of the ceratosaurs. It was a theropod, whose intelligence was high among the dinosaurs. Its name, meaning "horned lizard", is derived from the long horn on its snout. was a carnivore, that could kill even large sauropods; it probably hunted in groups. Grappling with its teeth and claws, it could have tackled them, and it probably also killed and ate young or sick sauropods; it may also have been a scavenger. But its hand had four well-developed fingers. It lived on the fern savannas and wooded flood plains of western North America. Ceratosaurus walked on two muscular legs. It had a pair of bony ridges above its eyes and a horn on its snout. These were probably used by males when fighting for a mate. It had a short neck with a very strong spinal column, a massive tail, a bulky body and heavy bones. Its short arms had four-fingered hands with sharp claws. It had small, bony plates, which seem to have run down the middle of the back.

Ceratosaurus was an active predator and had massive jaws with long, sharp teeth. It probably had very good eyesight because of its large eyes. Male Ceratosaurs were larger and stronger than the females. The first skeleton was discovered in 1883 at the same quarry (Colorado, USA) in which the five skeleton of Allosaurus was excavated. There were found five individuals of Ceratosaurus, including nearly complete adult skeleton. TIME - 156 - 145 MYA, Late Jurassic.
RANGE - USA Colorado, Utah, Wyoming Africa-Tanzania (Mtwara).
DIET-Carnivore (meat eater)
SIZE - Up to 20ft (6m) long.
WEIGHT - 1 US ton.