Torvosaurus

Type Species: Torvosaurus tanneri

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Theropoda - Carnosauria - Megalosauroidea - Megalosauria - Megalosauridae - Megalosaurinae

Time Period: Late Jurassic 

Location: North America and Europe

Diet: Carnivore   

The massive-bodied Torvosaurus was the largest predator in its environment. Its remains have been found in both North America and Spain. The specimen from the Morrison Formation lived in an environment that had rivers flowing westward into a giant, saline alkaline basin lake surrounded by wetlands. Other dinosaurs of this environment included plentiful sauropods such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Camarasaurus; ornithopods such as Dryosaurus and Camptosaurus; the stegosaur Stegosaurus; and the early ankylosaur Gorgoyleosaurus. Other large theropods, namely Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, also lived in the area. 

Researchers believe that Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus preferred to prowl waterways; their lower, more sinuous bodies would give them an advantage in forest and underbrush terrains; meanwhile, Allosaurus – with its longer legs – was faster but less maneuverable, and may have preferred to hunt in dry floodplains. Torvosaurus may have hunted large land animals whereas Ceratosaurus, in the same watery environment, preferred to hunt marine organisms such as fish, amphibians, and crocodylomorphs. Some scientists believe that because of its huge size, it would’ve been a clumsy hunter and instead scavenged the large dinosaur carcasses of the Morrison Formation. The idea is that it could use its ‘bulk and brawn’ to scare other theropods away from their kills and then steal the meat. However, other scientists point out that Torvosaurus’ size would be a boom in preying on larger dinosaurs; the Morrison Formation had plenty of prey – stegosaurs and ornithopods were numerous, and large sauropod herds were common – so Torvosaurus could ‘pick and choose’ what it hunted. It may have preferred to hunt juvenile or sick sauropods; one kill could fill its stomach for days. 

Torvosaurus grew up to thirty-three feet long and weighed as much as a hippo. It was the same size as Allosaurus but more massive. Its short, powerful arms were capped by large claws. Its skull – which may have been five feet long, at least according to some Portuguese remains – was elongated with a narrow snout. It had a kink in its profile just above its nostrils, and the lacrimal bone had a distinctive lacrimal horn. In 2005 Torvosaurus eggs were discovered in Portugal and dated to the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic. This find was remarkable for a number of reasons: first, these eggs contained the most primitive dinosaur embryos yet known; second, they were the only basal theropod embryos known; third, fossilized eggs and embryos are rarely found together; and fourth, it represents the first evidence of a one-layered eggshell for theropod dinosaurs. Because the eggs were abandoned due to unknown reasons, it’s unknown whether Torvosaurus provided parental care to its eggs and young or abandoned them shortly after laying.