noun
A large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, typically one with greatly reduced forelimbs.
Infraorder Carnosauria, suborder Theropoda, order Saurischia; includes tyrannosaurus, allosaurus, and megalosaurus
‘Allosaurus, predecessor to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the dominant ‘carnosaur’ - carnivorous dinosaur - of the mid-Jurassic age, has been well known to palaeontologists for decades.’- ‘The large carnosaurs and tyrannosaurs also appear to have shorter teeth than would be expected for a mammalian carnivore of their body size.’
- ‘Many carnosaurs have fairly good-sized forelimbs, unlike the Tyrannosauridae.’
- ‘In this classification scheme, carnosaurs represent the largest carnivorous animals to ever walk the land.’
- ‘On average, the carnosaurs were larger than most other theropods.’
Origin
1930s from modern Latin, from Latin caro, carn- ‘flesh’ + Greek sauros ‘lizard’.
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