Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from theGreek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος,carcharodontósauros: "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivoroustheropoddinosaurs. In 1931,Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as afamily, which, in modernpaleontology, indicates aclade withinCarnosauria. Carcharodontosaurids include some of the largest land predators ever known:Giganotosaurus,Mapusaurus,Carcharodontosaurus, andTyrannotitan all rivaledTyrannosaurus in size. Estimates give a maximum weight of 8–10 metric tons (8.8–11.0 short tons) for the largest carcharodontosaurids, while the smallest carcharodontosaurids were estimated to have weighed at least 500 kilograms (1,100 lb).
Lost original teeth ofCarcharodontosaurus (Megalosaurus)saharicus (Fig. 1-2), thelectotype being at the top (Fig. 1)
The earliest discovery of carcharodontosaurid fossils may date to 1835 with the discovery ofPoekilopleuron inJurassic-aged sediments inNormandy, France and it was then described in 1836 by FrenchnaturalistJacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps.[1][2] However, theholotype (name-bearing) specimen, which consisted of an incomplete postcranial skeleton, was destroyed duringWorld War II.[3] Due to the fragmentary and destroyed nature ofPoekilopleuron's fossils, little can be ascertained about itsphylogenetic position or validity. However, recent phylogenetic analyses have recovered it as a basal carcharodontosaurid or carcharodontosaurian,[4][5] though it has also been classified as ametriacanthosaurid,[6]megalosauroid,[7][8] or another position inCarnosauria.[9][10] If notPoekilopleuron, the oldest discovery of carcharodontosaurid fossils would be between 1909 and 1913 with the discovery ofVeterupristisaurus in the Jurassic-agedTendaguru Formation ofLindi, Tanzania. These fossils, consisting of severalcaudal (tail)vertebrae, were described by German paleontologistWerner Janensch in 1925 as belonging to an indeterminate largetheropod.[11][12] However after further study in 2011, German paleontologist Oliver Rauhut concluded that these vertebrae belonged to a novel genus and species of carcharodontosaurid which he namedVeterupristisaurus milneri.[12]
Fossils ofCarcharodontosaurus itself were discovered in 1924 in severalCretaceous-aged[13] deposits of theContinental Intercalaire inTimimoun, Algeria.[14] These fossils, consisting of only twoteeth, were then described by FrenchgeologistsCharles Depéret andJustin Savornin in 1925 as belonging to a new species of theropod dinosaur,Megalosaurus saharicus,[15] though thenMegalosaurus was awastebasket taxon.[16] It was the first theropod described fromNorth Africa and the first confirmed carcharodontosaurid to be named. Both teeth have since been lost and are now thought to be undiagnostic,[17] however many other teeth and bones were referred to the species from Cretaceous-aged sediments across North Africa.[18][17] A partial skeleton of a carcharodontosaurid was unearthed in marls nearAin Gedid, Egypt in 1914 byAustro-Hungarian paleontologistRichard Markgraf and deposited in the collections of thePaläontologisches Museum München in 1922.[19][20][21] This incomplete skeleton was described by German paleontologistErnst Stromer in 1931, who recognized the uniqueness of the teeth and skeleton leading to him to erect a new genus name forM. saharicus,Carcharodontosaurus. This name was for their similarities, in sharpness and serrations, to the teeth of thegreat white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).[19]Carcharodontosaurus is the name-bearing genus of the family Carcharodontosauridae, whose name means "shark-toothed lizards". In describing this partial skeleton, Stromer designated the smaller of the two teeth described by Deperet and Savornin as thetype specimen ofC. saharicus.[22][19] Thus, this tooth, although lost, must be considered as the lectotype (a later selected type specimen) of this species.[21] However, this partial skeleton was later destroyed in World War II[21][23] and was recognized as a new genus and species of carcharodontosaurid,Tameryraptor markgrafi, in 2025.[21]
Following the description ofCarcharodontosaurus, few additional carcharodontosaurid discoveries were made or recognized as being carcharodontosaurid.[20] Fossils of carcharodontosaurids, such as those ofAcrocanthosaurus, were often described as belonging to another family inCarnosauria or Theropoda,[24] or described as species of other genera, such asShaochilong.[25][26] However, in the 1990s and 2000s, resurgent interest in the Cretaceous fauna ofGondwana led to the discovery of many additional carcharodontosaurids. Although isolated carcharodontosaurid fossils had been known from South America since the 1960s with the description of "Megalosaurus chubutensis",[27][28] the first major find came with the discovery ofGiganotosaurus in 1993.[29][30]Giganotosaurus was found in Cretaceous-aged rocks inNeuquén, Argentina and named in 1995 by Argentine paleontologistsRodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado. This specimen ofGiganotosaurus consisted of around 70% of the skeleton, including much of the vertebral column, skull, and limbs.[31][32][33] However, Coria and Salgado did not recognize the close relationship ofGiganotosaurus toCarcharodontosaurus andAcrocanthosaurus.[33] Also in 1995, an incomplete skull ofCarcharodontosaurus was unearthed from layers of theLower Douira Formation, Kem Kem Beds, inErrachidia, southeastern Morocco.[20][17] This skull was then described by American paleontologistPaul Sereno and colleagues in 1996, who recognized thatGiganotosaurus andAcrocanthosaurus were both members of Carcharodontosauridae, together forming a transcontinental clade.[20] These discoveries led to the modern understanding of the family, though further research and discoveries has led to the addition of more members to the clade from other continents.
Along with thespinosaurids, carcharodontosaurids were the largest predators in the early and middleCretaceous throughoutGondwana, with species also present in North America (Acrocanthosaurus), Europe (Concavenator) and possibly Asia (Shaochilong).[34] Although not classified within the family Carcharodontosauridae, indeterminate remains of carcharodontosaurians are also found inEarly Cretaceous deposits ofAustralia.[35] Carcharodontosaurids range throughout the Cretaceous from theBarremian (127-121 million years ago) to theTuronian (94-90 million years ago). Past the Turonian, they were replaced by the smallerabelisaurids in Gondwana and bytyrannosaurids in North America and Asia.[36][37] While some teeth and amaxilla discovered inMaastrichtian deposits ofBrazil.[38][39] this identification has been subsequently rejected and the material assigned to abelisaurids after better examination,[40] and there are no reliable records of carcharodontosaurs in South America beyond the end of the Turonian.[36] In December 2011, Oliver W. M. Rauhut described a new genus and species of carcharodontosaurid from theLate Jurassic (lateKimmeridgian to earliestTithonianfaunal stage, about 154-150 million years ago) ofTendaguru Formation, southeasternTanzania. This genus,Veterupristisaurus represents the oldest known carcharodontosaurid.[12]
Size comparison of seven carcharodontosaurids, though the inclusion ofShaochilong as a member of the family is under contention.
The family Carcharodontosauridae was originally named byErnst Stromer in 1931 to include the single newly discovered speciesCarcharodontosaurus saharicus. A close relative ofC. saharicus,Giganotosaurus, was added to the family when it was described in 1995. Additionally, many paleontologists have includedAcrocanthosaurus in this family (Sereno et al. 1996, Harris 1998, Holtz 2000, Rauhut 2003, Eddy & Clarke, 2011, Rauhut 2011), though others place it in the related familyAllosauridae (Currie & Carpenter, 2000; Coria & Currie, 2002). Carcharodontosaurids are characterized by the following morphological characteristics : Dorsoventral depth of anterior maxillary interdental plates more than twice anteroposterior width, squared, sub-rectangular anterior portion of the dentary, teeth with wrinkled enamel surfaces, presence of four premaxillary alveoli and a premaxillary body taller than long in lateral aspect, opisthocoelous cervical vertebrae with neural spines more than 1.9 times the height of the centrum, large, textured rugosities on the lacrimal and postorbital formed by roofing and forming broad orbital shelves, and a proximomedially inclined femoral head.[41][42]With the discovery ofMapusaurus in 2006,Rodolfo Coria andPhil Currie erected a subfamily of Carcharodontosauridae, the Giganotosaurinae, to contain the most advanced South American species, which they found to be more closely related to each other than to the African and European forms. Coria and Currie did not formally referTyrannotitan to this subfamily, pending a more detailed description of that genus, but noted that based on characteristics of the femur, it may be a giganotosaurine as well.[43]
While describingTameryraptor in theirphylogenetic analyses Kellermann, Cuesta & Rauhut (2025) recovered the following results. They recoveredLusovenator andVeterupristisaurus as Late Jurassic carcharodontosaurids.Taurovenator andKelmayisaurus were recovered variably within or outside Carcharodontosauridae.Siamraptor andConcavenator were recovered as sister taxa outside of Carcharodontosauridae but still basal members ofCarcharodontosauria in all analyses.Datanglong was consistently recovered as an indeterminate carcharodontosaurid along withVeterupristisaurus.Neovenator,Eocarcharia, andPoekilopleuron were recovered outside of Carcharodontosauridae in all analyses, withNeovenator consistently recovered within Carcharodontosauria and sometimes as the sister taxon ofChilantaisaurus.Shaochilong was recovered as atyrannosauroid rather than a carcharodontosaurid.[21]
Osteohistological analysis of theMeraxes holotype specimen suggests the individual could have been between 39 and 53 years old when it died, having reached skeletal maturity approximately 4 years prior to its death (between 35 and 49 years old), making it the longest-lived non-avian theropod currently known.Meraxes was determined to have grown to large size by extending its growth period (hypermorphosis), rather than increasing its relative growth rate (acceleration) through development as inTyrannosaurus, to which it was compared.[44][46]
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