Australovenator

Australovenator Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,95 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Reconstructed skeleton, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, Winton, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Clade:	†Megaraptora
Genus:	†Australovenator Hocknull et al., 2009
Species:	†A. wintonensis
Binomial name
Australovenator wintonensis Hocknull et al., 2009

Australovenator (meaning "southern hunter") is a genus of megaraptoran theropod dinosaur from Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous)-age rocks (dated to 95 million years ago) of Australia. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains which were described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues.

According to Hocknull, it was 2 m (6.6 ft) tall at the hip and 6 m (20 ft) long, with a weight of about 500–1000 kg. Because it was a lightweight predator, he coined it as the "cheetah of its time". Like other megaraptorans, Australovenator would have been a bipedal carnivore.

Australovenator is based on a theropod specimen (AODF 604), affectionately nicknamed "Banjo" after Banjo Paterson), which was found intermingled with the remains of the sauropod Diamantinasaurus matildae at the "Matilda site" (AODL 85). The only known specimen of Australovenator, which is held at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, comprises a left dentary, teeth, partial forelimbs and hindlimbs, a partial right ilium, ribs, and gastralia. Australovenator was described in 2009 by paleontologist Scott Hocknull of the Queensland Museum, and colleagues. The type species is A. wintonensis, in reference to nearby Winton.