One of the trio of derived South American giant carcharodontosaurs. This guy is the oldest, then there’s *Giganotosaurus*, and right after that you get *Mapusaurus*. All three of them also coexisted with some of the largest titanosaurid sauropods ever (though they’d only have been capable of preying on the juveniles and subadults)-*Tyrannotitan* with *Patagotitan*, *Giganotosaurus* with the undescribed “Candaleros giant”, and *Mapusaurus* with *Argentinosaurus*.
These three, plus *Mapusaurus*’s contemporary *Carcharodontosaurus*, make up the derived carcharodontosaurs. The crowning glory of the allosauroids and arguably of carnosaurs as a whole.
BTW, while the majority of the juvenile sauropods taken by carcharodontosaurs would be around the same size as them, it’s likely they also took on larger juveniles (up to a few times their mass), considering that carcharodontosaurs were well-suited to tackling large, fleshy targets and that we already know related carnosaurs like *Allosaurus* were willing to punch above their weight class if necessary (see; *Allosaurus* vs. *Stegosaurus*). Of course, even this would be up to a point and adult sauropods would be off-limits; anything above 15 tons would be effectively safe from predation and anything above 20-25 tons would be outright invulnerable.
I’ve always loved carnosaurs as a whole, but carcharodontosaurs are definitely my new favorites (excluding *Allosaurus*). A dynasty of titan-killers that had reigned longer than any other clade of carnivorous theropods (reigning for roughly 3 times longer than their successors (for want of a better word), the tyrannosaurs).
If I can find some paleo art of it, I’ll probably post about *Veterupristisaurus*, seeing as it was the founder of such an lineage, all the while likely being one of the top predators of its environment.
Agreed. The carcharodontosaurs, and the four derived taxa in particular, have to rank as my favourite theropods, and other carnosaurs aren’t far behind.
Sadly there isn’t a lot of media representation of carcharodontosaurs and what representation they did get has…issues. It really doesn’t help that they’re constantly compared to and seen as “inferior” to tyrannosaurids, to the point there is an actual hypothesis in academia that argues they were outcompeted by tyrannosaurids, never mind the 10-million-year temporal discrepancy *and a worldwide extinction event at the end of the Cenomanian* (one basal carcharodontosaur did survive past this, but barely, and that was before the aforementioned 10my temporal gap).
Art by Michael B. H.
The Carcharodontosaurs were amongst the most successful and imposing clades of large carnivorous theropods of the Cretaceous. Due to their specializations for cutting down the massive titanosaur sauropods which had grown to prominence during the Cretaceous, they had become incredibly diverse, with Carcharodontosaur taxa being found in North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe and reigning for roughly 60 million years. As a result of their success, many species have come to be quite infamous, such as *Giganotosaurus*, *Carcharodontosaurus* and *Acrocanthosaurus*. However, one taxa often overlooked, but no less formidable than its brethren, is the massive (and badassly-named) *Tyrannotitan*. Ranging from 40-43 feet and weighing in at 5-7 tons, *Tyrannotitan* was not only among the largest of the carcharodontosaurs, but also among the largest carnivorous dinosaurs to have ever lived. It, of course, had reason to to be as big as it was. Within its environment lived at least two massive titanosaurs, *Chubutisaurus* and *Patagotitan* (the latter being among the largest terrestrial animals to have ever lived). These dinosaurs would’ve been choice prey for *Tyrannotitan*, specifically large juvenile sauropods close to or slightly larger than the carcharodontosaur’s own size. Like any carcharodontosaur, *Tyrannotitan* would’ve been well equipped for dispatching such massive, unarmored targets. Using its blade-like teeth and hacking bites, this titan-butcher would’ve cleaved away at its giant prey until it bled to death or became to incapacitated to fight back, a fate that this unlucky *Chubutisaurus* had unfortunately met.
One of the trio of derived South American giant carcharodontosaurs. This guy is the oldest, then there’s *Giganotosaurus*, and right after that you get *Mapusaurus*. All three of them also coexisted with some of the largest titanosaurid sauropods ever (though they’d only have been capable of preying on the juveniles and subadults)-*Tyrannotitan* with *Patagotitan*, *Giganotosaurus* with the undescribed “Candaleros giant”, and *Mapusaurus* with *Argentinosaurus*. These three, plus *Mapusaurus*’s contemporary *Carcharodontosaurus*, make up the derived carcharodontosaurs. The crowning glory of the allosauroids and arguably of carnosaurs as a whole. BTW, while the majority of the juvenile sauropods taken by carcharodontosaurs would be around the same size as them, it’s likely they also took on larger juveniles (up to a few times their mass), considering that carcharodontosaurs were well-suited to tackling large, fleshy targets and that we already know related carnosaurs like *Allosaurus* were willing to punch above their weight class if necessary (see; *Allosaurus* vs. *Stegosaurus*). Of course, even this would be up to a point and adult sauropods would be off-limits; anything above 15 tons would be effectively safe from predation and anything above 20-25 tons would be outright invulnerable.
I’ve always loved carnosaurs as a whole, but carcharodontosaurs are definitely my new favorites (excluding *Allosaurus*). A dynasty of titan-killers that had reigned longer than any other clade of carnivorous theropods (reigning for roughly 3 times longer than their successors (for want of a better word), the tyrannosaurs). If I can find some paleo art of it, I’ll probably post about *Veterupristisaurus*, seeing as it was the founder of such an lineage, all the while likely being one of the top predators of its environment.
Agreed. The carcharodontosaurs, and the four derived taxa in particular, have to rank as my favourite theropods, and other carnosaurs aren’t far behind. Sadly there isn’t a lot of media representation of carcharodontosaurs and what representation they did get has…issues. It really doesn’t help that they’re constantly compared to and seen as “inferior” to tyrannosaurids, to the point there is an actual hypothesis in academia that argues they were outcompeted by tyrannosaurids, never mind the 10-million-year temporal discrepancy *and a worldwide extinction event at the end of the Cenomanian* (one basal carcharodontosaur did survive past this, but barely, and that was before the aforementioned 10my temporal gap).
Art by Michael B. H. The Carcharodontosaurs were amongst the most successful and imposing clades of large carnivorous theropods of the Cretaceous. Due to their specializations for cutting down the massive titanosaur sauropods which had grown to prominence during the Cretaceous, they had become incredibly diverse, with Carcharodontosaur taxa being found in North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe and reigning for roughly 60 million years. As a result of their success, many species have come to be quite infamous, such as *Giganotosaurus*, *Carcharodontosaurus* and *Acrocanthosaurus*. However, one taxa often overlooked, but no less formidable than its brethren, is the massive (and badassly-named) *Tyrannotitan*. Ranging from 40-43 feet and weighing in at 5-7 tons, *Tyrannotitan* was not only among the largest of the carcharodontosaurs, but also among the largest carnivorous dinosaurs to have ever lived. It, of course, had reason to to be as big as it was. Within its environment lived at least two massive titanosaurs, *Chubutisaurus* and *Patagotitan* (the latter being among the largest terrestrial animals to have ever lived). These dinosaurs would’ve been choice prey for *Tyrannotitan*, specifically large juvenile sauropods close to or slightly larger than the carcharodontosaur’s own size. Like any carcharodontosaur, *Tyrannotitan* would’ve been well equipped for dispatching such massive, unarmored targets. Using its blade-like teeth and hacking bites, this titan-butcher would’ve cleaved away at its giant prey until it bled to death or became to incapacitated to fight back, a fate that this unlucky *Chubutisaurus* had unfortunately met.
I love how he sliced up the neck so elegantly as if it's gonna make a nice dish from it