Eocarcharia

Eocarcharia was a predatory dinosaur discovered in the rich Cretaceous beds of the Sahara in Niger. It lived roughly 112 million years ago alongside other famous meat-eaters, such as the spinosaurid Suchomimus and the abelisaurid Kryptops. Although known only from cranial fragments and isolated teeth, palaeontologists recognise it as an early member of the carcharodontosaurids, the shark-toothed dinosaurs. It was an apex hunter measuring an estimated six to eight metres in length, comparable in size to modern predatory mammals combined or a small bus. Its blade-like teeth had serrated edges specialised for slicing flesh rather than crushing bone. A distinct bony swelling over its eye socket likely gave it a menacing profile and may have served as a display structure or visual identifier among its kind. It preyed upon herbivorous iguanodontians and long-necked sauropods across the lush prehistoric river valleys.

It possessed a prominent thickened brow ridge over each eye, inspiring its specific name meaning fierce eyed.

Where and when

Eocarcharia lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 115 to 110 million years ago (Aptian-Albian age). Its remains come from Niger, in the Elrhaz Formation.

The numbers

Length 7 m (estimates run from 6 to 8 m). Mass about 1.4 t. Hip height about 2.2 m. That is 4.1 human-lengths, or 0.63 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from fragmentary remains; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

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