In the Books[]
The carnotaurus are large grey meat-eating dinosaurs who live on the planet of Taurus. Unlike T. rexes, they can read and write. Doctor Finkle, two of Spiny Jim's star pirates, and the carnotaur stewards that worked as bouncers at the Great Dinosaur Games of Olympus are all carnotaurus. Some have also worked for the Carnivore Crime Cartel, and they seem to be used as muscle at carnivore meetings. Their ruler is the understanding King Carnotaurus. Unlike T. rexes, carnotaurs are literate.
Species[]
Frederic Wierum's restoration of a real-life Carnotaurus.
Real Carnotaurus were 8-metre-long meat-eating dinosaurs from South America, one of a group of theropods called the abelisaurs. The abelisaurs were members of Ceratosauria, a large, diverse family which included the odd-looking dinosaurs Ceratosaurus. While the ceratosaurs were outcompeted by tyrannosaurs like Daspletosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex in much of the world, they continued to thrive in South America until the end of the Cretaceous period. Carnotaurus was one of these Cretaceous, South American abelisaurs.
While imposing due to the unusual horns over its eyes, Carnotaurus had small arms and clawless fingers, and was lightly built for its size. While T. rex's arms were well-muscled and strong despite their size, this was not the case for Carnotaurus, whose hands had no claws and would have been almost useless. While some scientists believe that the relatively delicate-seeming Carnotaurus hunted small animals, others think that it used its jaws to weaken and slash at larger prey with multiple quick, slicing bites. Its tail was short, muscular, and thick, one of a few adaptations that point to the secret weapon of Carnotaurus - its remarkable speed, especially for a larger theropod. This would have allowed it to easily chase or catch up with other dinosaurs and lash out at them with repeated, clublike strikes and serrated teeth.
Evidence suggests that Carnotaurus was one of the fastest of all non-bird dinosaurs, running at a speed of up to 35 miles per hour. That speed could have enhanced its bite power during a charge or ramming attack. Its senses were more focused on smell than on hearing and sight. Closer studies of the dinosaur’s jaws show that they were powerful, further suggesting that Carnotaurus hunted large prey by intentionally exhausting and chasing down the target, like Komodo dragons kill today. The blistering speed over short distances would have been useful for launching deadly ambushes and keeping pace with prey.
The function of the horns of Carnotaurus is unknown, as studies show that they were too delicate for use in direct ramming, although it has been suggested that rival Carnotaurus rammed the sides of their heads or bodies to avoid fatal direct attacks. The horns may or may not have been used against prey, but it’s believed that they probably weren’t - horns and other head ornaments are used for display or nonlethal same-species challenges in modern animals, not hunting. Skin impressions show that it had a bumpy skin, without feathers like many other meat-eating dinosaurs. Its name means 'meat bull'.