#charcarodontosaurus | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-original-b · 3 years

Text

Other cool dinosaurs

As a few of you know, I recently made a post about a statue of a T. Rex using the dimensions of Specimen FMNH PR 2081, known as SUE by the community, and it got more attention than I ever thought something like that would. And while I’m thrilled that so many of you share my passion for dinosaurs, I mentioned a few other creatures in that post that I feel were outshined by the T. Rex. And they deserve our respect and admiration too.

So this post is about them.

First, I want to introduce you to my friend Al.

...short for Allosaurus, regarded by many as the Jurassic’s alpha predator; measuring 32 feet (10 meters) from nose to tail, standing 10 feet (3 meters) tall, and weighing between two and three tons, it’s easy to see why.

The name Allosaurus is derived from Greek, meaning “Different Lizard,” for its vertebral structure which was different from everything else at the time of its discovery. Based on tiny fractures found in their bones, we know Allosaurus was an active predator, but its legs were comparatively short and not great for running long distances. So it’s believed that it preferred to use stealth to close the gap on its target then pounce when close enough, similar to a leopard. When it did, it shot out at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour (32 - 48kph), and used its long arms tipped with large, clawed hands to hold its prey down while its mouth finished the job.

And this mouth was nothing to sneeze at.

Its mouth, loaded with 4-inch (10cm) teeth, could open almost 80 degrees, wider than T. Rex and most other known predatory dinosaurs. However its bite was pretty modest for something its size--comparable to what a lion can deliver--so its widely believed that Allosaurus would swing its head downward with its mouth open like a battle axe to deliver more force in its killing blow.

There’s also the belief that Allosaurus hunted in packs to address larger prey like sauropods. In a behavior known as flesh-grazing, they would rip chunks out of large prey to get just enough food to get by, rather than risking life and limb trying to kill something several times its own size. We see similar behavior in cookie-cutter sharks when they attack whales.

But, as awesome as Allosaurus is, it still lives in the shadow of its bigger, nastier cousin: Saurophaganax Maximus, the “Lord of Lizard Eaters,” standing 13 feet (4 meters) tall and measuring 42 feet (13 meters) from snout to tail. Consider it the Jurassic’s T. Rex.

That’s it in dark red, compared to other Allosaurus specimens in bright red and green. You’ll notice its silhouette is virtually identical to the Allosaurus, and its bones are similar too, and some paleontologists would agree with you. In fact, there’s a lot of history surrounding the Saurophaganax genus as a whole.

For a while it was designated Allosaurus Maximus since the bones were so similar they could almost be classified under the same genus, like a lion and tiger (Panthera Leo and Panthera Tigris respectively). But experts were able to discern enough differences in comparable bones to make a strong enough case for Saurophaganax to stand as a unique genus, despite its similarity to Allosaurus. As of writing this, the greater scientific community recognizes them as two distinct genera; I personally hope they remain so, because Saurophaganax is such a cool name.

Now I want to shift gears and address another predator I mentioned.

Charcarodontosaurus, the Great White Shark Lizard, a giant with enormous jaws loaded with combat knives.

These beasts were among the largest terrestrial predators to ever walk the earth, measuring between 39 and 44 feet (12 - 13.3 meters) and weighing between 7 and 16 tons (approx. 6 - 15 metric tons). They belong to the same family as giants like Siats, and were widely agreed to be larger than T. Rex. However many paleontologists agree they weren’t quite as powerful as T. Rex, and theorize that they used different methods to kill their prey.

Here’s an image I found comparing the two which I hope better illustrates what I mean by that; on the left we have Carcharodontosaurus bones in gray, and on the right we have T. Rex in tan (with a human skeleton for funsies). Notice how much bulkier T. Rex’s bone structure is than Carcharodontosaurus’s, namely how much more massive its head is. T. Rex needs that gargantuan head to better deal with the ungodly forces its legendary bite subjects its jaws to. (unrelated, but I just read T. Rex holds the title for the longest teeth in the fossil record at twelve inches or 30cm, but that’s beside the point of this post)

Carcharodontosaurus’s jaws weren’t designed to deal with the stresses that struggling prey would subject them to, and if it bit its prey with the strength that T. Rex did, it would probably shatter its own skull. This is why paleontologists believe it adapted a bite-and-wait strategy when hunting; Carcharodontosaurus would sink its eight-inch (20cm) serrated teeth into its prey and carve out a huge chunk of meat, then stalk its victim as it bled out, eventually weakening to the point where Carcharodontosaurus could kill it without a struggle.

This is actually similar to how sharks hunt, excising huge chunks out of prey so they bleed to death and can be eaten without a fuss.

I didn’t write this to downplay how awesome T. Rex is, or to prove T. Rex’s superiority over other giant dinosaurs. I merely wrote this hoping that I was able to show you guys something new, and share my undying admiration for these amazing creatures that deserve our respect.

#science #dinosaurs #long post #allosaurus #saurophaganax #carcharodontosaurus #tw blood

35 notes · View notes