Elaphrosaurinae

† Elaphrosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratosaurian theropods (Noasauridae) that ranged from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous, with members known from Africa, Europe, and Australia. Lightly built, long-limbed carnivores, they were among the fastest runners of their respective ecosystems. Australian elaphrosaurines, known from fragmentary material, represent rare evidence of Gondwanan ceratosaurians outside South America. Their ecological role as small to medium cursorial predators is inferred from limb proportions.

Diet & Feeding

Carnivore

Elaphrosaurinae was a meat-eating predator. Carnivorous dinosaurs were active hunters or scavengers, equipped with sharp teeth and claws for catching and consuming prey. They occupied the top of the food chain in their ecosystems.

Time Period

Cretaceous Early Mesozoic Era

Elaphrosaurinae lived during the Cretaceous Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 145.0 to 100.5 million years ago.

The Cretaceous saw continued dinosaur evolution with the rise of ornithopods and early ceratopsians. Flowering plants first appeared and began to transform terrestrial ecosystems. Spinosaurus and other large theropods lived during this time.