Torvosaurus Facts
Torvosaurus Facts
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Interesting Torvosaurus Facts: |
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Torvosaurus was able to reach length of 33 to 40 feet and weight of 2 to 5 tons. |
European species of Torvosaurus: Torvosaurus gurneyi was slightly smaller than its American cousin: Torvosaurus tanneri. Despite slightly smaller size, it was still the largest predator of Jurassic Europe. |
Torvosaurus was closely related to Megalosaurus, large carnivorous dinosaur that lived during the mid Jurassic period in the southern parts of England. |
Torvosaurus had elongated, narrow snout, heavy body, powerful hind legs and short, but strong arms equipped with long, sharp claws (shaped like talons of eagle). Some researchers believe that claw on the thumb was especially good developed. Torvosaurus had long tail that was very stiff at the base. |
Torvosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex were similar in the shape and size. T-Rex was slightly larger, while Torvosaurus had much longer, stronger and better developed front limbs. |
Torvosaurus had walked on two legs (bipedal animal). |
Name "Torvosaurus" means "savage lizard" due to brutal nature of this dinosaur. |
Torvosaurus was a carnivore. Its diet was based on various species of sauropods and other large herbivorous dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus. |
Torvosaurus had larger and stockier body compared with other carnivorous dinosaurs of its time (such as Allosaurus). Due to lack of speed and agility, Torvosaurus primarily hunted slow dinosaurs, babies and young animals. |
Some researchers believe that waterways were ideal hunting areas for Torvosaurus. |
Torvosaurus had very large, sharp teeth. Together with claws, they served as powerful tool for killing the prey. European and American species of Torvosaurus differ in the shape and number of teeth. Torvosaurus tanneri (North American species) had more teeth than Torvosaurus gurneyi (European species). |
Torvosaurus was oviparous species (females laid their eggs in the nests). This fact is based on the crushed eggs with exposed embryo of Torvosaurus that were found in Portugal in 2005. |
Eggs had one-layered shell and very primitive embryos (compared with embryos of other species of dinosaurs). It is still a mystery whether Torvosaurus was taking care of its eggs and babies. |
Torvosaurus is featured in the video games: 3-D Dinosaur Adventure and Dinosaur King. |
Torvosaurus is featured as apex predator in documentary "Dinosaur Revolution". |
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