Tribute to Carcharodontosaurus (Stromer, 1931).

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*Carcharodontosaurus lived between 100 and 93 million years ago in Africa during the Cretaceous;

*Carcharodontosaurus was between 12 and 14 meters long;

*Its weight could be 6 to 8 tons;

*It lived alongside other giant theropods like Spinosaurus aegyptiacus;

*It preyed upon sauropods and ornithopeds;

*There are two species: Carcharodontosaurus saharicus and Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis.

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*Carcharodontosaurus was described in 1931 (Stromer, 1931) and its teeth were found in the 1920’s;

*Its name refers to ‘sharp toothed lizard’ (‘Carcharodon carcharias’ is the name of the Great White Shark);

*Its jaws were packed with long, serrated teeth that cut through flesh. The teeth are not designed to crush bone;

*Scientists think it hunted by repeated attacks, inflicting massive blood loss.

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*Carcharodontosaurus was the apex predator in its environment, together with Spinosaurus;

*Compared with T. rex, Carcharodontosaurus had a smaller brain and less developed vision;

*Carcharodontosaurus belongs to the ‘Carnosauria’ branch of dinosaurs, very distant relatives of birds;

*It is likely that the Jurassic theropod Allosaurus fragilis was one of the ancestors of Carcharodontosaurid dinosaurs;

*Other giant theropods like Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus and Tyrannotitan are relatives of Carcharodontosaurus. The mentioned dinosaurs lived in Argentina.