Name:
Angaturama (Tupi Indian for "noble"); pronounced ANG-ah-tore-AH-mah
Habitat:
Woodlands of South America
Historical Period:
Early Cretaceous (125 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 30 feet long and 2 tons
Diet:
Meat
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Spines on back; long, narrow snout
About Angaturama:
Quick: what other dinosaur had a sailed back, a long, narrow, crocodilian snout, and a weight class in the Tyrannosaurus Rex range? If you answered Spinosaurus, that's pretty much all you need to know about Angaturama, a close relative of Spinosaurus that was unearthed in Brazil in 1991. Brazilian national pride has resulted in Angaturama being assigned its own genus, though some paleontologists speculate that it may have been a species of Irritator, yet another spinosaur from South America.
