Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus carolinii
Giganotosaurus shows that very large theropod predators evolved independently on different continents.
Image: Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Giganotosaurus carolinii
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
- Lived
- 99–97 Ma (99 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Plains, Forest
- Length (estimate)
- 12 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 7,000 kg
Description
Giganotosaurus was a large carcharodontosaurid with a long skull, powerful hind legs and a deep tail base. Its serrated teeth were suited to slicing flesh but were less robust than those of Tyrannosaurus. The known skeletons are incomplete, so precise comparisons of length and mass among large theropods remain uncertain. It lived in Patagonia among large sauropods, which may have been prey.
Habitat
Seasonally dry floodplains in Patagonia.
Fossil sites
Candeleros Formation, Neuquén
Candeleros Formation
Cultural profile: Argentina →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Giganotosaurus