Giganotosaurus
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? Giganotosaurus Conservation status:
Fossil
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| Giganotosaurus
carolinii Coria & Salgado, 1995 |
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Giganotosaurus (Giganotosaurus, Giant southern lizard) is a dinosaur that lived about 100 to 90 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period. It is one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores.
The holotype specimen's (MUCPv-Ch1) skeleton was about 70% complete and included the skull, pelvis, leg bones and most of the backbone. A second specimen (MUCPv-95), eight percent larger, also has been recovered. The largest Giganotosaurus is estimated to be 14.3 m (47 ft) long and weighed up to 8,000 kg (9 tons), surpassing Tyrannosaurus rex by almost 2 m and 2,000 kg (6.5 ft and 2.2 tons). The specimen's skull was the size of a bathtub, measuring 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in).
Though longer and heavier than T. rex, G. carolinii was relatively slender and had a much smaller braincase that was the size of a banana. A well-developed olfactory region means it probably had a good sense of smell.
Titanosaur fossils have been recovered near the remains of Giganotosaurus, leading to speculation that these carnivores may have preyed on the giant herbivores. Discoveries of Giganotosaurus fossils grouped closely together hint at it being a pack hunter.
G. carolinii was named for Ruben Carolini, an amateur fossil hunter who discovered the fossils in the deposits of the Rio Limay Formation of Patagonia in 1993. The genus name "Giganotosaurus" is derived from the Greek gigas ("giant"), notos ("south wind") and sauros ("lizard"). Both names were published by Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado in the journal Nature in 1995. The original fossils remain at the Carmen Funes Museum in Neuquen, Argentina, but replicas are common in other places. The family of Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus is Carcharodontosauridae.
Trivia
- A Giganotosaurus is the main antagonist in the videogame Dino Crisis 2, although it differs very much from what is known about the creature. In the game, the dinosaur is 21 metres long and 8 metres tall, while in real life it was around 14.5 metres long.
- The Giganotosaurus also appears in the Walking with Dinosaurs special Land of Giants. They are seen to hunt both independently and in packs, working together to bring down an Argentinosaurus.