Abelisauridae

Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous Period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian subcontinent and the island of Madagascar. Reports based on isolated teeth show the occurrence in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, and the confirmed existence of European Abelisaurids comes from the Late Cretaceous of France with Arcovenator. Abelisaurids first appear in the fossil record of the early middle Jurassic period, and at least one species (Majungasaurus) survived until the end of the Mesozoic era 66 million years ago.