Carcharodontosaurus

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C. sp. nov. Brusatte & Sereno, 2005 Template:Taxobox end

Carcharodontosaurus (kar-kar-oh-DON-toh-sawr-us) meaning "shark-toothed reptile" (Greek karcharo = shark + odonto = teeth + sauros = lizard) was a gigantic carnivorous carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 98 to 93 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. It even surpassed Tyrannosaurus rex in size, growing to an estimated length of 45 feet (13.5 meters) and weighing up to eight tons.

Paleontologists once thought that Carcharodontosaurus had the longest skull of any of the theropod dinosaurs. However, the premaxilla and quadrate bones were missing from the original African skull, which led to misinterpretion of its actual size by researchers. A more modest length of five feet, four inches (1.6 meters) has now been proposed. Thus, the honor of the largest theropod skull now belongs to another huge carcharodontosaurid dinosaur, Carcharodontosaurus' close relative Giganotosaurus.

Carcharodontosaurus fossils were first found by Charles Depéret and J. Savornin in North Africa in 1927. Originally called Megalosaurus saharicus, its name was changed in 1931 by Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach to that used today. These first fossils of Carcharodontosaurus were destroyed during World War II. However, cranial material from a Carcharodontosaurus was again discovered in North Africa in 1996 by paleontologist Paul Sereno. Stephen Brusatte and Paul Sereno (2005) reported a second species of Carcharodontosaurus differing from C. saharicus in some aspects of the maxilla and braincase. The new species, which was discovered in Niger, has not yet been given a name.

Carcharodontosaurus was a carnivore, with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to eight inches long. It may have hunted in packs like Allosaurs, but no fossil evidence of this exists. It may have been a scavenger as well as an active predator.

Carcharodontosaurus had long, muscular legs and fossilized trackways indicate that it could run about 20 miles per hour, though there is some controversy as to whether it actually did. At eight tons, a forward fall would have been deadly to Carcharodontosaurus, due to the inability of its small arms to brace the animal when it landed.

The brain endocast and inner ear anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus resembled modern Crocodylia (Larsson, 2001). The size of the cerebrum relative to the total brain was similar to modern non-avian reptiles, but small relative to coelurosaurian theropods and birds. Ongoing discoveries and research by scientists will certainly shed further light on the physiology, behavior, and environmental circumstances and interactions of Carcharodontosaurus.

References

Brusatte, S. & P.C. Sereno, 2005. A new species of Carcharodontosaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian of Niger and its implications for allosauroid phylogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 40A.

Larsson, H.C.E., 2001. Endocranial anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) and its implications for theropod brain evolution. 19-33 in D.H. Tanke & K. Carpenter (eds.), Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

External links

• "Carcharodontosaurus". DinoData. 8 November. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)