Deviation Actions
Description
Cerataurus
Cerataurus
Meaning: Horned Bull
Description: Large, armored theropod
Species: C. gorgus, C. magnaceras
Family: Ceratosauria, Abelisauridae
Length: 40-44 Feet
Lifestyle: Hunter and scavenger
Range: Africa, Eurasia
Distinguishing Features: The African version of Minosaurus, this dinosaur is closely related to the giant Ursusaurus and Bengal Naga and shares much of their ranges with them. Like them it shares a bulldog-like snout, vestigial arms, and an armored body and head that are covered in scutes and horns. The brow horns of Cerataurs however, are not used in making a kill like Minosaurs do. Instead, they are used between rivals during territorial disputes, during which the animals head-butt each other in the ribs. This is often called necking and is usually bloodless unless one of the rivals is intent on killing the rival in order to take his or her mate. The male is a sandy red-brown with a sand-white underside and a neon red wattle and throat pouch. The larger females are a light sandy brown with a cream-colored underside, pale blue throat pouch and smaller horns. Adults come together in the winter (January to be exact) to rut and display to females in leks where the males can be seen displaying in their glory. Males sprout feathers that are a deep peacock-blue on their backs (rare for abelisaurs), necks and tails and do not feed during this time. Plumage is shed in early May and makes perfect nesting material. Males and females pair for life, and lay between twenty and twenty-five eggs every two years, of which only twelve to fifteen hatch. They are doting parents by nature and care for their young until they are about five years old and sixteen feet long.
Habits and Habitat: These large carnivores can be seen anywhere in scrubland or open grassland where their size and speed give them an edge. They are hunters of the more heavily built hadrosaurs and ceratopsians. While most predators tend to stalk their prey, these animals rush their prey in what could be compared to a suicide run. They then single out a target and then attack and inflict as much damage as possible using their teeth, claws and sheer mass to topple prey often as big as (or bigger than) themselves. As scavengers they are just as ruthless, often eating smaller predators that do not back down and not backing down from a fight with all but the largest pseudospinosaurs and tyrannosaurs. It is for this reason that many Cerataurs carry battle scars and re-healed broken bones. One individual even survived having all the skin of its face being ripped off by a Lobotyrannus, which left its head looking hideously skull-like for a period of three years.
