Eocarcharia

<i>Eocarcharia</i>

Eocarcharia

Extinct genus of reptiles

Eocarcharia (meaning "dawn shark") is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation that lived in the Sahara 112 million years ago, in what today is the country of Niger. It was discovered in 2000 on an expedition led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno. The type and only species is Eocarcharia dinops.[1] Its teeth were shaped like blades and were used for disabling live prey and ripping apart body parts. Eocarcharia’s brow is swollen into a massive band of bone, giving it a menacing glare[2] (leading to the specific name dinops or "fierce-eyed"). It may have reached lengths of 6–8 m (19.7–26.2 ft).[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Maxilla.
Relative size of Eocarcharia MNN-GAD2-11 and a human, based on Acrocanthosaurus and Concavenator.

Paleoecology

In the Elrhaz Formation, dinosaurs that lived with Eocarcharia include theropods Kryptops palaios and Suchomimus tenerensis, sauropod Nigersaurus taqueti, and ornithopods Ouranosaurus nigeriensis, Lurdusaurus arenatus, and Elrhazosaurus nigeriensis.[1]

Classification

In their 2022 description of the giant carcharodontosaurid Meraxes, Canale et al. recovered Eocarcharia as an early member of the clade, in a polytomy with Concavenator, Lajasvenator, and Lusovenator. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are displayed in the cladogram below:[3]

Carcharodontosauridae

References

  1. [1]
    Sereno, Paul C.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2008). "Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (1): 15–46. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0102.
  2. [2]
    New Meat-eating Dinosaur Duo from Sahara Unveiled Newswise, Retrieved on 21 September 2008.
  3. [3]
    Canale, Juan I.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Gallina, Pablo A.; Mitchell, Jonathan; Smith, Nathan D.; Cullen, Thomas M.; Shinya, Akiko; Haluza, Alejandro; Gianechini, Federico A.; Makovicky, Peter J. (July 2022). "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction". Current Biology. 32 (14): 3195–3202.e5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. PMID 35803271. S2CID 250343124.


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