GIGANTOSAURUS

GIGANTOSAURUS

giant southern lizard

His 'CHin'

In 2005 François Therrien e.a. estimated that the bite force of Giganotosaurus was three times less than that of Tyrannosaurus and that the lower jaws were optimised for inflicting slicing wounds; the point of the mandibula was reinforced to this purpose with a 'chin' and broadened to handle smaller prey.

ancestors

some features

Paleoecology

Discovery and species

The most complete find of Giganotosaurus was made by Rubén Dario Carolini, an amateur fossil hunter who, on 25 July 1993, discovered a skeleton in deposits of Patagonia (southern Argentina) in what is now considered the Candeleros Formation

Type specimen at Museo de El Chocón (the skull is a replica)

Giganotosaurus, along with relatives like Tyrannotitan, Mapusaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, are members of the carnosaur family Carcharodontosauridae. Both Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus have been placed in their own subfamily Giganotosaurinae by Coria and Currie in 2006 as more carcharodontosaurid dinosaurs are found and described.

Giganotosaurus walked upright on two large and powerful legs. It may have been fairly agile, thanks to its thin, pointed tail, which may have provided balance and the ability to make quick turns while running.

Giganotosaurus was probably the apex predator in its ecosystem. It shared its environment with titanosaurian sauropodAndesaurus and the rebbachisaurid sauropods Limaysaurus and Nopcsaspondylus. Iguanodont and ornithischian remains have reportedly been found there too.

FEATURES

The length of the Giganotosaurus is between 12.2 to 13 meters , with weight of 6.5 to 13.8 tonnes. It was a bipedal predator, with a large skull held by a powerful neck; short upper limbs in proportion to their size, equipped with three fingers finished in curved claws and sharp; powerful limbs; and a long tail that served as a counterbalance and balance.

The first specimen was found in 1993 in the province of Neuquén, Patagonia Argentina it was discovered by Rubén Carolini

The rear legs of the Giganotosaurus emphasizes the longer tibia than femur, so his legs gave him great support but not great speed. This suggests that it was an ambush predator or it hunted slow prey, such as the sauropods.

It showed more skills as a predator to how scavenger. It was even more larger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex had a brain of a smaller size, in the shape of a banana.

In popular culture

GIGANTOSAURUS

Giganotosaurus has appeared several times in film, literature, and other media. It appears in the BBC series Chased By Dinosaurs, appearing in the episode "Land of Giants", in which Nigel Marvin travels to cretaceous Patagonia to witness their hunt of an Argentinosaurus herd.

Genus of carcharodontosauriddinosaurs that lived in what is now Argentina during the early Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous Period, Approximately some 99.6 to 97 million years ago.It included some of the largest known terrestrial carnivores, with known individuals equaling or slightly bigger than the size of the largest of Tyrannosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, but not as large as those of Spinosaurus.