Ekrixinatosaurus ('explosion-born reptile') is a genus of abelisaurid theropod which lived approximately 100 to 97 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.

Only one species is currently recognized, Ekrixinatosaurus novasi, from which the specific name honors of Dr. Fernando Novas for his contributions to the study of abelisaurid theropods, while the genus name refers to the dynamiting of the holotype specimen.

This formation dates from 100 to 97 mya,[2] and consists of red beds where other famous vertebrate animals have been discovered, such as Giganotosaurus, Rebbachisaurus and Andesaurus.

[1] The remains of Ekrixinatosaurus helped fill in more information about abelisaur anatomy as it contained portions of the skeleton that were previously unknown, unpublished, or poorly preserved in other specimens.

The combination of characteristics including a large skull, prominent supraorbital ridge above the dorsal aspect of the orbit, anteroposteriorly compressed cervical vertebrae, and robust, proportionally short hindlimbs with a tibia shorter than femur suggests that this was a massive animal with a great capacity to sustain injuries during intraspecific or interspecific combat.

[7] The skull is estimated to be approximately 83 cm long based on comparisons with Carnotaurus and Majungasaurus, and while Abelisaurus does not have a complete maxilla its preserved size is similar to that of Ekrixinatosaurus.

Smaller predators also inhabited the area, including the dromaeosaurid Buitreraptor, the alvarezsauroid Alnashetri, and the basal coelurosaurian Bicentenaria.

It has been hypothesized that it was only after extinction of these carcharodontosaurids that abelisaurids were able to diversify into more robust forms that occupied the niche of top predators of their ecosystems.