Chenanisaurus

Chenanisaurus (meaning "Sidi Chennane lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Morocco. The genus belongs to the family Abelisauridae. It is known from a partial dentary (lower jawbone) and several teeth that were found in the phosphate mines of Khouribga, in rocks of the Maastrichtian-aged Ouled Abdoun Basin. Chenanisaurus was described in 2017 by British paleontologist Nicholas Longrich and colleagues. The genus contains a single species, Chenanisaurus barbaricus.

Chenanisaurus is one of few known African members of Abelisauridae. Its length is estimated to be around 7–8 m (23–26 ft), making it among the largest known abelisaurids. The dentary of Chenanisaurus is distinct in that it was deep and slightly bowed. The outer surface is ornamented with deep striations, grooves, and rugosities, as in related forms such as Majungasaurus.

Chenanisaurus was among the last non-avian dinosaurs, existing just one million years prior to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. It was found in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, which was a marine environment at the time Chenanisaurus lived. It is one of several dinosaurs known from the phosphates, living alongside an indeterminate titanosaurian sauropod, the hadrosaurids Ajnabia, Minqaria, and Taleta, and other abelisaurids. As for non-dinosaurs, a host of pterosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, fish, and sharks are also known from the Ouled Abdoun Basin.