Skorpiovenator

Skorpiovenator Temporal range: Cenomanian-Turonian, 99.6–89.8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Cast of the holotype specimen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Abelisauridae
Clade:	†Brachyrostra
Genus:	†Skorpiovenator Canale et al. 2009
Type species
†Skorpiovenator bustingorryi Canale et al. 2009

Skorpiovenator ("scorpion hunter") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Turonian) Huincul Formation of Argentina. The sole species of Skorpiovenator, S. bustinggoryi, was named in honour of Manuel Bustingorryi, the late owner of the farm on which the type specimen was discovered. Formally described in 2009, the type specimen is one of the most complete and informative abelisaurids yet known, described from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton. A tibia fragment was assigned to Skorpiovenator in 2022.

Skorpiovenator was a fairly large abelisaurid. What is preserved of the type specimen measures 4.35 m (14.3 ft) in length. Based on the anatomy of close relatives, it may have been 6–6.2 m (19.7–20.3 ft) long in life, and may have weighed a little under 900 kilograms (2,000 lb). Its skull was short and blunt, and somewhat resembled that of Carnotaurus. Its bone texture was rugose, even by the standards of other abelisaurids, which indicates the presence of large facial scales. The skull is also covered in small pits called foramina, which suggests a strong degree of facial sensitivity.