Piveteausaurus
| Piveteausaurus | ||||||||||
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Hypothetical reconstruction of Piveteausaurus divesensis |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Middle Jurassic ( Callovium ) | ||||||||||
| approx. 162 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Piveteausaurus | ||||||||||
| Taquet & Welles , 1977 | ||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||
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Piveteausaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur thatlived in Europeabout 162 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic period. Only the species P. divesensis is known.
The fossil finds are limited to a complete brain skull (neurocranium), which was found near Marnes de Dives in the French department of Calvados . The skull is similar to that of Allosaurus , but the crests above the eyes were less pronounced in Piveteausaurus and its skull was longer. It was estimated to be about four meters high, 11 meters long and weighed around two tons.
In 1977 Philippe Taquet and Samuel Paul Welles reclassified the species that was first described by Alick Walker in 1964 as Eustreptospondylus divesensis . The species epithet designates Marnes de Dives, the site in France. The exact taxonomic classification is controversial because of the meager finds. Piveteausaurus is partially assigned to the Carnosauria , by other authors to the Megalosauridae . A relationship with the Ornitholestidae is also discussed.