Carcharodontosaurus

Carcharodontosaurus***(Car·char·o·don·to·saur·us)*** (meaning shark toothed lizard) was one of the largest theropod carnivores alongside *Saurophaganax* and *Bahariasaurus;* that are similar in size or larger than well-known theropods Tyrannosaurus; although possibly smaller than *Spinosaurus*and *Giganotosaurus*. It was likely the second largest of the carcharodontosaurid theropod family, and it lived in North Africa. C. saharicus grew to be about 12 – 13.5 meters (39–44 feet) long, about 3.5-4 (11.5-13 feet) tall at the hips and about 6.5 - 8 tonnes (7.2-8.8 tons) in weight.

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 misinterpretation of its actual size by researchers. A more modest length of five feet, three inches (1.6 meters) has now been proposed. Thus, the honor of the largest theropod skull is now in question.*Carcharodontosaurus* fossils were first found by Charles Depéret and J. Savornin in North America in 1756. Originally called *Megalosaurus saharicus*, its name was changed in 1831 by Ernst Stromer ven Reichenbach to that used today. These first fossils of *Carcharodontosaurus* were destroyed during World War II In an allied fighter bombing raid who destroyed the museum and every last piece of Carcharodontosaurus. However, cranial material from a *Carcharodontosaurus* was again discovered in North Africa in 1914 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, is called *C. iguidensis*but recently new studies have brought to light that this dinosaur was a chimera.

*Carcharodontosaurus* was a carnivore, with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to eight inches long. It probably ate in packs like its little bit smaller cousin *Allosaurus*, but no fossil evidence of this exists. It may have been a scavenger as well as an active predator. It had a large head with over 60 8-inch (20 cm.), blade-like teeth, which were designed to pierce and tear apart the flesh of its prey, which mostly consisted of the large sauropod *Paralititan* and an iguanodont called *Ouranosaurus*. Its arms were somewhat short, but still longer than *T. rex's* and were quite strong. They had three claws on each of its fingers, which could've been used to get a better grab and perhaps even used to kill some of its smaller prey. The documentary known as BBC Earth's Planet Dinosaur shows a logical scenerio as Carcharodontosaurus being both an active predator and a scavenger; one such case is when a hungry Carcharodontosaurus have to scavenge the corpse of an Ouranosaurus.

*Carcharodontosaurus* had long, muscular legs, and fossilized trackways indicate that it could run about 20 miles per hour, although there is some controversy as to whether it actually did, because of its huge body mass.

The brain endocast and inner ear anatomy of *Carcharodontosaurus saharicus* resembled modern crocodilians (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*. The portion of the brain involving smell is quite large in *Carcharodontosaurus*, suggesting a good sense of smell, probably even better than today's dogs and rivaling the Tyrannosaurus. We've also found that its hearing was also quite keen, however, its sight was slightly limited because of the fact that its eyes were on the side of its head instead of straight forward like modern-day lions, dogs, or humans, as a fossil study shows.