Rugops

Rugops was a medium-sized abelisaurid dinosaur discovered in the Cenomanian-age Echkar Formation of the Sahara Desert in Niger. Known principally from a partial skull, its name translates to wrinkle face due to the intensely grooved and pitted nature of the facial bones. These extensive grooves suggest that the living skull was sheathed in a tough layer of keratin or densely vascularised skin, punctuated by seven paired sensory or display openings along the snout. Measuring roughly five to six metres in length, Rugops had relatively weak jaws and small teeth compared to super-predators like Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus, which roamed the same delta environment. Many researchers therefore suspect that Rugops specialized as a scavenger or hunter of smaller, softer-bodied prey, avoiding direct competition with the towering mega-theropods of prehistoric Africa.

Rows of small holes across its skull indicate its face was covered in a tough, keratinous armour.

Where and when

Rugops lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 96 to 93 million years ago (Cenomanian age). Its remains come from Niger, in the Echkar Formation.

The numbers

Length 5.5 m (estimates run from 5 to 6 m). Mass about 840 kg. Hip height about 1.8 m. That is 3.2 human-lengths, or 0.49 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Rugops with a bus Place on the timeline