Carcharodontosaurus

Credit: Fred Wierum.

*Carcharodontosaurus* is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid that lived in Africa during the Late Cretaceous.

## History

Two teeth were found in 1924 in the Continental Intercalaire, Algeria. The they were described by Depéret and Savornin 1925, naming *Megalosaurus saharicus* because they were distinct, later transferring it under the subgenus of *Dryptosaurus*. Years later, Ernst Stromer described partial cranial and postcranial remains from the Cenomanian Bahariya Formation of Egypt in 1931. A partial skull, teeth, vertebrae, claws, hip and leg bones were all unearthed in 1914. The teeth matched Depéret and Savornin's taxon, which led Stromer to move it into a new genus with the same species; *Carcharodontosaurus sahricus* because he saw the teeth resembled those from *Carcharodon*. *"C." iguidensis* may be another genus[*citation needed*].

## Description

*Carcharodontosaurus* may have been larger than *Tyrannosaurus*, *Spinosaurus* and *Giganotosaurus*. However, the animals size us greatly disputed, and some estimates place it larger, or smaller than other theropods. *Carcharodontosaurus* was originally known from several shark-like dinosaur teeth. Only when the location was searched later, a partial skull was recovered and described. *Carcharodontosaurus*' jaws are large and long, fitted with many serrated teeth that could reach lengths of eight inches. The skull of *C. saharicus*, and reportedly *C. iguidensis*, was about 1.53-1.6 meters (5-5.2 feet) long. Currently, *Carcharodontosaurus*' skull is the second largest carcharodontosaurus skull, only dethroned by *Giganotosaurus*.

## Paleobiology

### Senses

In 2001, the inner ear and endocranium of *Carcharodontosaurus* were described. The midbrain is angled downwards, at 45° towards the animals rear. The hindbrain is nearly identical to the forebrain. With the midbrain, the hindbrain would have formed a 40° angle. *C. saharicus*' brain was very similar to that of *Allosaurus*. The ratio between the cerebrum and the to its volume was a typical feature for non-bird reptiles. The semicircle-shaped canals of the inner ear form a subtriangular perimeter once viewed from its side. This feature persists in Allosaurus turtles and lizards, but not birds. The canals themselves, semi-"circular" in shape, were quite linear. This explains the pointed shadow. Alive, a floccular love from the brain would have ran down the surrounding triangles of the subtriangle, like non-avian theropods, birds and pterosaur have.

### Hunting

A study conducted by Donald Henderson, curator of the Royal Tyrrell Museum concluded the following about *Carcharodontosaurus*. The animal, in life, would have been able to lift animals weighing a maximum of 424 kilograms (935 pounds) in its jaws, based on its neck and center mass.

### Pathology

SGM-Din 1, a *C. saharicus* skull, bears a single circular puncture wound on its basal and an abnormal bony-lump on its antorbital rim.

### Interspecies Conflict

Its unclear of what types of interactions and events occurred between larger theropods of North Africa, such as *Bahariasaurus*, *Carcharodontosaurus* and *Spinosaurus*. However from recorded instances of *Carcharodontosaurus* bite marks on *Spinosaurus* sail, and *Spinosaurus* bite marks, as well as in laid teeth on a *Carcharodontosaurus* vertebra, could indicate the largest theropods of North Africa came into conflict regularly, similar to modern predators on Africa, South America and North America.

## Classification

Apesteguía et al. (2016)'s classification of Carcharodontosauridae:

## Gallery

### Reconstructions

**Credit: @RTLP2929 on Twitter.**Carcharodontosaurus ontogeny graphic.
**Credit: @PrimevalArtist on Twitter.****Credit: @JoshuaTedder3 on Twitter.****Credit: Davide Bonadonna.**
## References

1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/g.s.paul2016theprincetonfieldguidetodinosaurs/page/n87/mode/2up
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcharodontosaurus
3. ↑ https://dinopedia.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000095122/r/4400000000000391586