Giganotosaurus

Giganotosaurus was an enormous carnivorous dinosaur that lived in South America during the early Late Cretaceous. Rivaling or exceeding Tyrannosaurus rex in length, it reached estimates of twelve to thirteen metres and weighed between six and eight tonnes. Unlike the bone-crushing jaws of tyrannosaurs, Giganotosaurus possessed a long, relatively narrow skull armed with flat, serrated, blade-like teeth optimized for slicing through thick flesh and causing massive blood loss. Discovered in Patagonia by fossil hunter Rubén Carolini, it was the apex predator of its ecosystem, coexisting with immense titanosaurian sauropods such as Andesaurus. Although massive, its robust hind limbs suggest it was capable of respectable running speeds for an animal of its immense size.

Its skull measured more than one and a half metres long, yet held a brain roughly the size of a banana.

Where and when

Giganotosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99.6 to 97 million years ago (Cenomanian age). Its remains come from Argentina, in the Candeleros Formation.

The numbers

Length 13 m (estimates run from 12 to 13 m). Mass about 7.1 t. Hip height about 3.8 m. That is 7.4 human-lengths, or 1.12 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Giganotosaurus with a bus Place on the timeline