Carcharodontosaurus

TheCarcharodontosaurus ( "shark tooth - lizard") was one of the largest predatory dinosaurs of prehistoric times. It lived in the early Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) about 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago in Africa. Carcharodontosaurus was named after the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) because of the similarity of its teeth..

The first fossil finds of this giant were made by the German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in Egypt and Algeria at the beginning of the 20th century. However, these finds were destroyed during the 2nd World War in 1944 during air raids.

Today, science distinguishes two species of Carcharodontosaurus: Carcharodontosaurus saharicus and Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis. The differentiation takes place on the basis of the places of discovery of the fossils, as well as the anatomy of the upper jaw. Furthermore the found teeth of the Carcharodontosaurus saharicus have more pronounced furrows..

The Carcharodontosaurus according to current knowledge, was up to 13.7 meters long and weighed up to 8 tons. He had very strong claws and sharp, slightly curved teeth.

Compared to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, Carcharodontosaurus is even more impressive in terms of size and it is believed that it was also faster. However, model calculations of the skulls show that the brain of Carcharodontosaurus was proportionally much smaller.

In Morocco nowadays mainly fossil teeth of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus are found. The most famous site for fossil teeth of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus are the Kem-Kem Beds near Khourigba.

The area of today's Sahara was, in contrast to today, during the Cretaceous period a fertile, wet land with extensive mangrove forests. Carcharodontosaurus probably lived there on the riverbanks, where it lay in wait for its prey, together with other dinosaur species such as Spinosaurus, Aegyptosaurus, Bahariasaurus as well as the gigantic Paralititan.