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'''Irritator''' was a spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous Period, around 110 million years ago. Current estimations indicate a length of 8 metres (26 feet) and a height of 3 metres (9 feet). It was found in Brazil.

It was named by paleontologists Martill, Cruikshank, Frey, Small & Clarke in 1996. Its only known fossil, an 80cm skull discovered in Eastern Brazil, was badly obscured by plaster added by the commercial fossil collecting amateurs who discovered it, in hopes of making the fossil look more complete and valuable. It required a great deal of work to restore the original features - hence the name.
It is probably synonymous with ''Angaturama limai'', another spinosaurid from the same time and place, whose remains curiously seem to complete ''Irritator's skull, meaning that they could belong to the same specimen.
The type species is ''I. challengeri''. It honours the character of Professor Challenger in Arthur Conan Doyle's ''The Lost World'

Contents

Material

Systematics

External Links

Material

Material of ''I. challengeri'', not counting that of ''A. limai'', hails from the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation in Brazil. The holotype is SMNS 58022, and it consists of an incomplete skull, lacking the anterior portion.

Systematics

''I. challengeri'' was a member of the Spinosauridae, more specifically the Spinosaurinae. Therefore, it shares a close relationship with ''Spinosaurus''.

External Links

★ Irritator at The Theropod Database

★ Irritator skeletal reconstructions at The Grave Yard