Carcharodontosaurus

Carcharodontosaurus was a gargantuan predatory theropod that prowled northern Africa during the mid-Cretaceous period. Named after the genus of great white sharks because of its serrated, steak-knife-like teeth, it grew up to twelve and a half metres in length. The initial fossils discovered in Egypt were destroyed during the 1944 bombing of Munich, leaving the taxon poorly understood until Paul Sereno discovered a massive, remarkably complete skull in Morocco during the 1990s. With deep jaws powered by massive musculature, Carcharodontosaurus specialized in delivering slashing bites to large prey. It shared its mangrove and delta habitat with other huge predators, including the semi-aquatic Spinosaurus and the abelisaurid Rugops, in one of the most carnivore-dense ecosystems known in Earth's history.

The original type specimen described by Ernst Stromer was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II.

Where and when

Carcharodontosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99.6 to 93.5 million years ago (Cenomanian age). Its remains come from Egypt and Morocco and Niger, in the Kem Kem Group.

The numbers

Length 12 m (estimates run from 12 to 13 m). Mass about 6.1 t. Hip height about 3.6 m. That is 7.1 human-lengths, or 1.07 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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