Carcharodontosaurus

*Carcharodontosaurus saharicus*

***Carcharodontosaurus*** (/ˌkɑːrkəroʊˌdɒntoʊˈsɔːrəs/) (meaning "shark toothed lizard") was one of the largest theropod carnivores alongside *Spinosaurus* and *Bahariasaurus;* theropods that co-existed with it in early-late Cretaceous Northern-Africa. It was one of the largest *Carcharodontosaurids,* rivaling *Tyrannotitan* and *Sauroniops* in size, and being slightly smaller than *Giganotosaurus*. The *C. saharicus* grew to be about 12-13 meters long, about 3.5-3.8 meters tall at the hips and around 7 - 9 tonnes 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 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 now belongs to either *Giganotosaurus* or *Tyrannosaurus*.

*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 von 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 and therefore invalid.

## Description

*Carcharodontosaurus* was a carnivore, with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to eight inches long. It may have grouped up like its relative *Mapusaurus*, but no fossil evidence supports this claim. It may have been a scavenger as well as an active predator. It had a large head with over 60, 20 cm (8 inch), blade-like teeth, which were designed to pierce and tear apart the flesh of its prey, which may have consisted of dinosaurs such as young sauropods and ornithopods. Its arms were somewhat short, but still longer than *T. rex's* and were quite strong. They had three claws on each hand, its arms were likely useless when hunting, but may have been used to assist in mating. The documentary known as BBC Earth's Planet Dinosaur shows a logical scenario as *Carcharodontosaurus* was likely an opportunistic and active predator and scavenger, like most modern carnivores today.

Based on Larremendi's bipedal speed formula, Carcharadontosaurus moved around 22-33 kilometers per hour. Like all megatheropods over 3 tonnes, it was physically incapable of reaching a running gait.

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.

## Classification

The cladogram after Canale *et al.*, 2022, shows the placement of *Carcharodontosaurus* within Carcharodontosauridae.

## Paleobiology

*Carcharodontosaurus* lived in what is now southern Africa from 99 to 94 million years ago. South America had likely just broken apart from Africa during that time, and it's probably why *Carcharodontosaurus* and its relatives from South America are so alike in appearance. Its environment was likely very warm and humid, with many rivers and lakes flowing through, considering *Spinosaurus* has been found in the same location. Although dry and barren now, North Africa was likely very lush and full of life, including several rainforests. The elevation was flat, and there were many marches and plains around. *Carcharodontosaurus* shared this lush habitat with prey items like sauropods, for instance *Rebbachisaurus* or the gigantic *Paralititan*. Although it was the top-predator in the area, Carcharodontosaurus was probably very territorial and had large areas of territory, which would likely have to fight for against rivals and other huge predators in the area, like *Spinosaurus*, and even relatives like *Sauroniops*, *Deltadromeus*, and *Bahariasaurus*. The size of its surrounding dinosaurs might have been the reason that Carcharodontosaurus was that enormous.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Carcharodontosaurus may have been the largest meat-eating dinosaur to ever walk the Earth. This huge predator lived in Africa during much of the Cretaceous period. Originally discovered in the 1920's, it wasn't until the 1990's that scientists found enough of this dinosaur to figure out what it looked like and how big it actually grew.

Classification of Carcharodontosaurus, as well as other genera seemingly related to this dinosaur, is still being studied. Whether or not this genus belongs in the allosaur family is the subject of much discussion. Some scientists also believe this genus may be the same as Giganotosaurus.

## Dinosaur Field Guide Description

Carcharodontosaurus ("great-white-shark-tooth lizard") was first known only from its enormous teeth. When these teeth were first described in 1927, they were thought to come from a giant species of Megalosaurus. In 1931, however, paleontologists thought that they were different enough to be given their own name-after the great white shark, whose teeth this dinosaur's resembled. When parts of this dinosaur's skeleton were finally discovered in northern Africa, they revealed a predator as big as Tyrannosaurus rex, Sadly, these fossils, kept in a museum in Munich, Germany, were destroyed by a bomb during World War I. But many decades later, in the summer of 1995, a team of paleontologists led by Paul Sereno found the most complete fossils yet of Carcharodontosaurus. These included most of the skull-\_including a braincase-as well as some other parts of the skeleton. This showed that Carcharodontosaurus was as big as the biggest Tyrannosaurus!

### Fun Facts

Carcharodontosaurus had a very narrow skull. Because its eyes faced sideways, it wouldn't have been able to focus well on things right in front of it, but it could have seen almost all its surroundings at once

### Trivia

Carcharodontosaurus teeth seem to be relatively common fossils in northern Africa.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* *Carcharodontosaurus* appears in the game: *Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis*.
* It can be created from DNA in *Jurassic Park Builder*.
* *Carcharodontosaurus* is an unlockable dinosaur in *Jurassic World: Evolution* added in the Cretaceous dinosaur pack DLC released on December 13, 2018.

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20040806055604fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_carch.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20080512032731/http://kids.yahoo.com/dinosaurs/277--Carcharodontosaurus

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