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08-27-2020, 08:09 PM( This post was last modified: 04-15-2021, 06:45 PM by DinoFan83 )
Torvosaurus (/ˌtɔːrvoʊˈsɔːrəs/) is a genus of carnivorous megalosauroid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 153 to 148 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period (Callovian to Tithonian) in what is now the United States, Portugal, and potentially having specimens in Tanzania, Germany, and Uruguay as well, making it one of the most widespread theropods known. It contains two currently recognized species, Torvosaurus tanneri and Torvosaurus gurneyi, as well as possibly Torvosaurus ingens if the referral of "Megalosaurus" ingens teeth from the Tendaguru to this genus is correct.
In 1979 the type species Torvosaurus tanneri was named: it was a large, heavily built, bipedal carnivore, that could grow to a length of about 10 m. T. tanneri was among the largest carnivores of its time. Based on bone morphology Torvosaurus is thought to have had a massive, robust skull with very large teeth, stout hind legs, and short but very powerful arms. Torvosaurus was a very large predator, and overall estimates encompassing all possible specimens suggest sizes of 9-13.7 meters and masses from 2000-7000 kg, making Torvosaurus among the largest land carnivores of the Jurassic.
Thomas Holtz estimated it at 12 meters. The T. gurneyi specimens from Portugal initially prompted larger size estimates to be made. In 2006 a lower end of a thighbone, specimen ML 632, was referred to Torvosaurus sp. and later to T. gurneyi. This specimen was initially stated to indicate a length of 11 meters, and applying the extrapolation method of J.F. Anderson correlating mammal weights to their femur circumference, resulted in a weight of 1930 kilogrammes. However, after its description and released measurements in 2014, a length of 12.2 meters and weight of 5000 kt is a more plausible value, although the holotype maxilla ML 1100 is indicative of a 9 meter and 2000 kg animal. Among the differentiating features between T. gurneyi and T. tanneri are the number of teeth and the size and shape of the mouth. While the upper jaw of T. tanneri has more than 11 teeth, that of T. gurneyi has less. For its size, Torvosaurus was a very big headed animal, with the largest discovered cranial material indicating a 136 cm skull and with some postcranial specimens likely having skulls more than 160 cm long.
Typical of megalosaurids, the skull of Torvosaurus was wide, robust, and heavily built, with a kink in its profile just above the large nostrils. The frontmost snout bone, the praemaxilla, bore three rather flat teeth oriented somewhat outwards with the front edge of the teeth crown overlapping the outer side of the rear edge of the preceding crown. The maxilla was tall and bore at least eleven rather long teeth. The antorbital fenestra was relatively short. The lacrimal bone had a distinctive lacrimal horn on top; its lower end was broad in side view. The eye socket was tall with a pointed lower end. The jugal was long and transversely thin. The lower front side of the quadrate bone was hollowed out by a tear-shaped depression, the contact surface with the quadratojugal. Both the neck vertebrae and the front dorsal vertebrae had relatively flexible ball-in-socket joints. The balls, on the front side of the vertebral centra, had a wide rim, a condition by Britt likened to a Derby hat. The tail base was stiffened in the vertical plane by high and in side view wide neural spines. The upper arm was robust; the lower arm robust but short. Whether the thumb claw was especially enlarged, is uncertain. In the pelvis, the ilium resembled that of Megalosaurus and had a tall, short, front blade and a longer pointed rear blade. The pelvis as a whole was massively built, with the bone skirts between the pubic bones and the ischia contacting each other and forming a vaulted closed underside.
