Carcharodontosaurus: One of the Largest Carnivorous Dinosaurs that Ever Lived
Towering over 40 feet long with serrated teeth like steak knives, #Carcharodontosaurus was a true apex predator of the Cretaceous. In this video, Dr. BC reviews the skull of this massive meat-eater and one of the fiercest dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth.
This skull is a composite, taking original elements from a number of sources and upscaling them to the size of the largest bone. Thus, this wild, gigantic skull on display at the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology.
Size estimates of this 100 million-year-old, #Cretaceous African #theropod #dinosaur vary wildly, with weights of 6-9 tons and lengths exceeding 40’ being bandied about, both numbers squarely in the size range of #Tyrannosaurus rex.
Recent studies suggest it was less than 40’ long and weighed 6 tons on the high side. Still a giant! And one with a long (over 5’), skull with 50+ highly serrated teeth in its huge mouth.
This sculpt measures 5’ 4” from snout tip to back of the skull. The #Tyrannosaurus (AMNH 5027 cast) on display in the same room is 4’ 4” long using the same points of measurement. Both are the same back-of-skull width, a testament to the robustness of a #tyrannosaur. Considering Carch consists of individual bones, it will be awesome to see how this cast stacks up when a reasonably articulated specimen is found.
That giant mouth means large chunks of flesh can be snipped in one big bite, with its numerous serrated teeth leaving behind a gaping, bloody wound ensuring that even if the prey ran away, they would likely bleed to death.
Despite receiving massive amounts of media attention, Carcharodontosaurus is actually known from very few bones. The majority were lost in a World War II bombing raid that destroyed the museum where they were housed.
It has the most letters in a valid #dinossur genus, AFAIK, beating #Pachycephalosaurus by 1 letter (I don’t count #Micropachycephalosaurus as valid). The name means “shark-toothed lizard,” earned I suppose from its long, serrated teeth which reminded folk of… great white shark teeth? Yeah, they are serrated and thin, but I just don’t see the shark similarity, what am I missing?
Apologies for the rough audio. I didn’t know my cable was failing… doh!
#FossilCrates #carnivoredinosaurs #paleontology #paleontologist #paleontologistexplains
#DinosaurFacts #dinofacts #prehistoricpredators #prehistoric #prehistoricanimals #prehistoricgiants #Cretaceouspredators