Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus
- Pronunciation:
- gig-an-OH-toe-SORE-us
- Name meaning:
- 'giant southern lizard'
- Type of dinosaur:
- large theropod
- Length:
- 12.5m
- Weight:
- 8000kg
- Diet:
- carnivorous
- Teeth:
- long, blade-like and serrated - ideal for slicing
- Food:
- other animals
- How it moved:
- on 2 legs
- When it lived:
- Early Cretaceous, 112-90 million years ago
- Found in:
- Argentina
Giganotosaurus is known from very fragmentary remains.
Taller and longer but slimmer than Tyrannosaurus rex, Giganotosaurus lived millions of years earlier and in South America not North America.
Giganotosaurus had 3 fingers on its hands, not 2 like T.rex. It may have hunted Argentinosaurus.
Taxonomic details
- Taxonomy:
- Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Carcharodontosauridae
- Named by:
- Coria and Salgado (1995)
- Type species:
- carolinii
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