Carcharodontosauridae

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Carcharodontosaurids
Temporal range: 154–90 
Ma
 Possible Campanian record
Reconstructed Carcharodontosaurus skull, Science Museum of Minnesota
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: †
Carcharodontosauria
Family: †Carcharodontosauridae
Stromer, 1931
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Acrocanthosauridae Molnar, 2003

Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the

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. Estimates give a maximum weight of 8–10 metric tons (8.8–11.0 short tons) for the largest carcharodontosaurids, while the smallest carcharodontosaurids were estimated to have weighed at least 500 kilograms (1,100 lb).

Evolution

Restoration of the crushed skull of Concavenator

Along with the

faunal stage, about 154-150 million years ago) of Tendaguru Formation, southeastern Tanzania. This genus, Veterupristisaurus represents the oldest known carcharodontosaurid.[12]

Classification

The family Carcharodontosauridae was originally named by Ernst Stromer in 1931 to include the single newly discovered species Carcharodontosaurus saharicus. A close relative of C. saharicus, Giganotosaurus, was added to the family when it was described in 1995. Additionally, many paleontologists have included Acrocanthosaurus in this family (Sereno et al. 1996, Harris 1998, Holtz 2000, Rauhut 2003, Eddy & Clarke, 2011, Rauhut 2011), though others place it in the related family Allosauridae (Currie & Carpenter, 2000; Coria & Currie, 2002). Carcharodontosaurids are characterized by the following morphological characters : Dorsoventral depth of anterior maxillary interdental plates more than twice anteroposterior width, squared, sub-rectangular anterior portion of the dentary, teeth with wrinkled enamel surfaces, presence of four premaxillary alveoli and a premaxillary body taller than long in lateral aspect, opisthocoelous cervical vertebrae with neural spines more than 1.9 times the height of the centrum, large, textured rugosities on the lacrimal and postorbital formed by roofing and forming broad orbital shelves, and a proximomedially inclined femoral head.[13][14] With the discovery of Mapusaurus in 2006,

Phil Currie erected a subfamily of Carcharodontosauridae, the Giganotosaurinae, to contain the most advanced South American species, which they found to be more closely related to each other than to the African and European forms. Coria and Currie did not formally refer Tyrannotitan to this subfamily, pending a more detailed description of that genus, but noted that based on characteristics of the femur, it may be a gigantosaurine as well.[15]

Size comparison of seven carcharodontosaurids

In 1998 Paul Sereno defined Carcharodontosauridae as a clade, consisting of Carcharodontosaurus and all species closer to it than to either Allosaurus, Sinraptor, Monolophosaurus, or Cryolophosaurus. Therefore, this clade is by definition outside of the clade Allosauridae.

The cladogram below follows the analyses by Canale et al. (2022) from their description of the large carcharodontosaurine Meraxes..[3]

Carcharodontosauridae

In his 2024 review of theropod relationships, Cau recovered the following results for the Carcharodontosauridae.[2]

Carcharodontosauridae
Neovenator

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis
(holotype maxilla)

Acrocanthosaurus

Eocarcharia (referred maxilla)

Meraxes

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis (referred cranial material)

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (neotype)

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (described by Stromer in 1931)

Mounted Acrocanthosaurus skeleton (NCSM 14345) at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Bahariasaurus has also been proposed as a carcharodontosaurid, but its remains are too fragmentary to be certain.[16]

Carcharodontosaurids have been proposed as more closely related to abelisaurids, as opposed to the allosaurids. This is due to these two clades sharing some

postcranial characters support their relationship with allosaurids.[citation needed
]

Paleobiology

Growth

Studies of the Argentinian taxon

Meraxes suggest that these allosauroids were slow-growing, taking as long as 30-40 years to reach maturity. The maximum age for the holotype specimen was estimated to be roughly 50 years at the time of its death, making it the oldest known non-avian theropod. Unlike Tyrannosaurus, to which its growth has been compared, this carcharodontosaurid kept growing throughout its life.[17]

References

  1. S2CID 53387460. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2011-12-18. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  2. ^
    doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08
    .
  3. ^ a b c Canale, J.I.; Apesteguía, S.; Gallina, P.A.; Mitchell, J.; Smith, N.D.; Cullen, T.M.; Shinya, A.; Haluza, A.; Gianechini, F.A.; Makovicky, P.J. (2022-07-07). "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction". Current Biology. 32 (14): 3195–3202.e5.
    PMID 35803271
    .
  4. S2CID 85354215
    .
  5. hdl:11336/102037
    .
  6. S2CID 25532873
    .
  7. ^
    ISSN 0195-6671
    .
  8. ^ Novas, de Valais, Vickers-Rich, and Rich. (2005). "A large Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia, Argentina, and the evolution of carcharodontosaurids." Naturwissenschaften,
  9. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.06.004
    .
  10. doi:10.5327/z0375-75362012000200008 (inactive 2024-05-08).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2024 (link
    )
  11. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.09.008
    .
  12. ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M. (2011). "Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania)". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 86: 195–239.
  13. S2CID 4395795. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  14. PMID 21445312
    .
  15. ^ Coria, R.A.; Currie, P.J. (2006). "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Geodiversitas. 28 (1): 71–118.
  16. ^ Rauhut, (1995). "Zur systematischen Stellung der afrikanischen Theropoden Carcharodontosaurus Stromer 1931 und Bahariasaurus Stromer 1934." Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E16 (Gundolf-Ernst-Festschrift): 357-375.
  17. ^ "T. rex had huge growth spurts, but other dinos grew slow and steady: By cutting into fossils and examining growth rings, scientists learned how predatory dinosaurs got so big". ScienceDaily.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Carcharodontosauridae.
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