- Carcharodontosauridae
Taxobox
name = Carcharodontosaurids
fossil_range = Early-Late Cretaceous
image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Giganotosaurus " skeleton at the Australian Museum,Sydney
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Saurischia
subordo =Theropoda
infraordo =Carnosauria
superfamilia =Allosauroidea
familia = Carcharodontosauridae
familia_authority = Stromer, 1931
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Acrocanthosaurus "? "Carcharodontosaurus " (type) "Eocarcharia " "Giganotosaurus " "Mapusaurus " "Neovenator "? "Tyrannotitan "Carcharodontosaurids (from the Greek "Carcharodontosauros": "shark-toothed lizards") were a group of carnivorous
theropod dinosaur s. In 1931Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, in modernpaleontology this name indicates aclade withinCarnosauria . Carcharodontosaurids included some of the largest land predators ever known: "Giganotosaurus ", "Mapusaurus ", "Carcharodontosaurus ", and "Tyrannotitan " all rivaled or exceeded "Tyrannosaurus " in size.Evolution
Along with the spinosaurids, carcharodontosaurids were the largest predators in the early and middle
Cretaceous throughoutGondwana (and Europe, if "Neovenator " is included), and also in North America ("Acrocanthosaurus "). Their ages range from theBarremian (127-121 million years ago) to theCenomanian (99-93 million years ago). It's possible they were also present during theTuronian (93-89 million years ago).However, past the Turonian, there seem to be no signs of the presence of these animals anywhere on the world. They were replaced by the smaller abelisaurids in Gondwana and by tyrannosaurids in North America. According to
Fernando Novas and colleagues, the disappearance of not only carcharodontosaurids but also spinosaurids and other fauna in both Gondwana and North America seem to indicate that this faunal replacement occurred on a global scale.Novas, de Valais, Vickers-Rich, and Rich. (2005). "A large Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia, Argentina, and the evolution of carcharodontosaurids." "Naturwissenschaften", ]ystematics
Taxonomy
The family Carcharodontosauridae was originally named by
Ernst Stromer in 1931 to include the single newly discovered species "Carcharodontosaurus saharicus". A close relative of "C. saharicus", "Giganotosaurus", was added to the family when it was described in 1995. Additionally, many paleontologists have included "Acrocanthosaurus" in this family (Sereno et al. 1996, Harris 1998, Holtz 2000, Rauhut 2003), though others place it in the related familyAllosauridae (Currie & Carpenter, 2000; Coria & Currie, 2002). "Neovenator" may also be a member of the Carcharodontosauridae (Rauhut, 2003; Holtz "et al.", 2004).With the discovery of "Mapusaurus" 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 refer "Tyrannotitan" 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.Coria, R.A., and Currie, P.J. (2006). "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina." "Geodiversitas", 28(1): 71-118.]* Family Carcharodontosauridae
** Genus "Acrocanthosaurus "
** Genus "Carcharodontosaurus "
** Genus "Eocarcharia "Sereno, P.C. and Brusatte, S.L. 2008. " [http://www.app.pan.pl/acta53/app53-015.pdf Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger] ". "Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53" (1): 15–46.]
** Genus "Neovenator "
** Genus "Tyrannotitan "
** Subfamily Giganotosaurinae
*** Genus "Giganotosaurus "
*** Genus "Mapusaurus "Phylogeny
In 1998
Paul Sereno defined Carcharodontosauridae as aclade , consisting of "Carcharodontosaurus" and all species closer to it than to either "Allosaurus ", "Sinraptor ", "Monolophosaurus ", or "Cryolophosaurus ". Therefore, this clade is by definition outside of the cladeAllosauridae .clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%
label1=Carcharodontosauridae
1=clade
1="Carcharodontosaurus "
label2=Giganotosaurinae
2=clade
1="Giganotosaurus "
2="Mapusaurus "Cladogram after Coria and Currie, 2006The placement of "Acrocanthosaurus" and "Neovenator" is unclear, with some researchers favoring Carcharodontosauridae and others favoring Allosauridae. "
Bahariasaurus " has also been proposed as a carcharodontosaurid, but it's remains are too scarce to be certain. It appears to be synonymous with the ceratosaur "Deltadromeus ".Carcharodontosaurids have been proposed as more closely related to abelisaurids, as opposed to the allosaurids. This is due to these two clades sharing some
cranial features (see link below). However, these similarities appear to derive from parallel evolution between these two groups. A larger number of cranial andpostcranial characters support their relationship with allosaurids.References
External links
* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1030&Itemid=104 Carcharodontosauridae at Dinodata]
* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9356&Itemid=164 Carcharodontosaurid cranial anatomy at DinoData]
* [http://home.comcast.net/~eoraptor/Carnosauria.htm#Carcharodontosauridae Carcharodontosauridae at Theropod Database]
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/1999Mar/msg00493.html Carcharodontosauridae/Abelisauridae]
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/1999Mar/msg00504.html Carcharodontosauridae/Abelisauridae 2]
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