CarcharodontosauridaeCarcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the Greek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, carcharodontósauros: "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931, Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, which, in modern paleontology, indicates a clade within Carnosauria. Carcharodontosaurids include some of the largest land predators ever known: Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Tyrannotitan all rivaled Tyrannosaurus in size.
MapusaurusMapusaurus (Earth lizard) was a giant carcharodontosaurid carnosaurian dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous (early Turonian stage), approximately 93.9 to 89.6 million years ago, of what is now Argentina. Mapusaurus was excavated between 1997 and 2001, by the Argentinian-Canadian Dinosaur Project, from an exposure of the Huincul Formation (Rio Limay Subgroup, Cenomanian) at Cañadón del Gato. It was described and named by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Phil Currie in 2006.
GiganotosaurusGiganotosaurus (ˌgɪɡəˌnoʊtəˈsɔːrəs ) is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, during the early Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 99.6 to 95 million years ago. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Candeleros Formation of Patagonia in 1993 and is almost 70% complete. The animal was named Giganotosaurus carolinii in 1995; the genus name translates to "giant southern lizard", and the specific name honors the discoverer, Rubén D. Carolini.
CarcharodontosaurusCarcharodontosaurus (ˌkɑːrkəroʊ-ˌdɒntoʊ-ˈsɔːrəs; shark-toothed lizard) is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 99 to 94 million years ago during the Albian and Cenomanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first described from Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer during a 1914 expedition to Egypt.
ConcavenatorConcavenator is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 130 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period (Barremian age). The type species is C. corcovatus. Concavenator corcovatus means "Cuenca hunter with a hump". The fossil was discovered in the Las Hoyas fossil site of Spain by paleontologists José Luis Sanz, Francisco Ortega, and Fernando Escaso from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the National University of Distance Education.
SpinosaurusSpinosaurus (ˌspaɪnəˈsɔːrəs; spine lizard) is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. The genus was known first from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. The original remains were destroyed in World War II, but additional material came to light in the early 21st century.
NeovenatorNeovenator (nee-o-ven-a-tor meaning "new hunter") is a genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur. It is known from several skeletons found in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian~130-125 million years ago) Wessex Formation on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, southern England. It is one of the best known theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Europe. The first bones of Neovenator were discovered in the summer of 1978, when a storm made part of the Grange Chine collapse.
AstrodonAstrodon (aster: star, odon: tooth) is a genus of large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, measuring in length, in height and in body mass. It lived in what is now the eastern United States during the Early Cretaceous period, and fossils have been found in the Arundel Formation, which has been dated through palynomorphs to the Albian about 112 to 110 million years ago. Two dinosaur teeth were received in late November 1858 by chemist Philip Thomas Tyson from John D. Latchford.
TenontosaurusTenontosaurus (tɪˌnɒntəˈsɔːrəs ; sinew lizard) is a genus of medium- to large-sized ornithopod dinosaur. It was a relatively medium sized ornithopod, reaching in length and in body mass. It had an unusually long, broad tail, which like its back was stiffened with a network of bony tendons. The genus is known from the late Aptian to Albian ages of the Early Cretaceous period sediments of western North America, dating between 115 and 108 million years ago.
TheropodaTheropoda (θɪəˈrɒpədə; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved to become herbivores and omnivores. Theropods first appeared during the Carnian age of the late Triassic period 231.4 million years ago (Ma) and included the majority of large terrestrial carnivores from the Early Jurassic until at least the close of the Cretaceous, about 66 Ma.
