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Rugops primus
Illustration © Todd
Marshall
Rugops primus (meaning
"first wrinkle face") lived 95 million
years ago on Africa. It is an abelisaurid, a group
of predators (meat-eaters) known only from southern
landmasses-including South America, Madagascar,
India and, now, Africa. Its discovery suggests
that Africa remain linked by a narrow land bridge
to South America and other southern landmasses
until about 100-95 million years ago.
Illustration Carol
Abraczinskas
© Project Exploration.
Abelisaurids are meat-eaters (theropod dinosaurs)
that have small, short-snouted skulls armed with
small pointed teeth. Some abelisaurids have cone-shaped
horns projecting from their skulls. Their snout
bones have a wrinkled texture-a criss-cross pattern
of grooves for blood vessels-suggesting that in
life their snouts had a horny, or bill-like, covering,
rather than scales. Small head size (relative
to their body) and small teeth suggest that they
may have been scavengers.
The fossil skull of Rugops
was discovered in Africa's Sahara Desert in 2000
by a team led by Project Exploration Co-founder
and President, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence,
Dr. Paul Sereno.
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