Abelisauroidea


Abelisauroidea is a clade of theropod dinosaurs within the Ceratosauria. Some well-known dinosaurs of this group include the abelisaurids Abelisaurus, Carnotaurus, and Majungasaurus.
Abelisauroids flourished in the Southern hemisphere during the Cretaceous period, but their origins can be traced back to at least the Middle Jurassic, when they had a more global distribution. By the Cretaceous period, abelisauroids had apparently become extinct in Asia and North America, possibly due to competition from tyrannosauroids. However, advanced abelisauroids of the family Abelisauridae persisted in the southern continents until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event million years ago.

Classification