Carcharodontosaurus saharicus kar-KAR-oh-DON-toh-SOR-us
"Shark-toothed lizard"
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Carcharodontosaurus 12 m (39 ft) long
7 people holding hands
- Length
- 12 m (39 ft) — About 12 m long, ~7 tonnes — a giant carcharodontosaur from North Africa.
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (99–94 Mya)
- Place
- Africa · Morocco · Egypt
- Food
- Carnivore — Large prey — sauropods such as Paralititan that shared its habitat.
Carcharodontosaurus took its name from the great white shark — its teeth were serrated like a shark’s, designed for slicing flesh rather than crushing bone. It hunted across the lush river deltas of North Africa, sharing turf with Spinosaurus, an even larger but fish-eating predator. Most of the original skeletons were destroyed in WWII bombings of Munich, so what we know now comes from teeth and later finds.
What we know
- Teeth shaped like serrated steak knives, ideal for slicing flesh from large prey.
- Original skull material destroyed during WWII bombing of Munich; later finds replaced it.
- Closely related to Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus.
- Lived in the same ecosystem as Spinosaurus, the giant sail-backed fish-eater.
What we guess
- Whether Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus competed directly or hunted different prey.
- How its skull functioned — slicing bites are leading hypothesis but exact mechanics debated.
- Whether the African and South American carcharodontosaurs are closer to each other than to other relatives.