The remains of "Afrovenator" were discovered in 1993 in the Tiourarén Formation of the department of Agadez in Niger. The Tiourarén was originally thought to represent the Hauterivian to Barremian stages of the early Cretaceous Period, or approximately 132 to 125 million years ago (Sereno et al. 1994). However, re-interpretation of the sediments showed that they are probably Mid-Jurassic in age, dating "Afrovenator" to the Bathonian to Oxfordian stages, between 167 and 161 mya. The sauropod "Jobaria", whose remains were first mentioned in the same paper which named "Afrovenator", is also known from this formation.