Carnotaurinae is a subfamily of the theropod dinosaur family Abelisauridae. It includes the dinosaurs Aucasaurus, Carnotaurus. The group was first proposed by American paleontologist Paul Sereno in 1998, defined as a clade containing all abelisaurids more closely related to Carnotaurus than to Majungasaurus.

Abelisauridae is a family 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. Isolated teeth were found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, and the Late Cretaceous genera Tarascosaurus and Arcovenator have been described in France. Abelisaurids first appear in the fossil record of the early middle Jurassic period, and at least three genera survived until the end of the Mesozoic era 66 million years ago.