[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
large meat-eaters
=A question: I continually read (in even recent books) about how the T.rex is
=the "largest terrestrial carnivore ever" or words to that effect. Is this
=still true? What about the "Epanterias amplexus" reported in various popular
=journals circa 1990? The articles were stating that this dinosaur, an
=ALLOSAUR, was 50 feet long, as large as or larger than T.rex.
In addition to the allosaur specimen you mention, there is now an excellent
specimen of Acrocanthosaurus being prepared that is 85% complete. The skull is
4' 7" long, which is as long or longer than all known T. rex specimens except
Sue. It is going to be described by Phil Currie and Ken Carpenter. This is an
Early Cretaceous dinosaur and was found in Oklahoma. It is privately owned.
I've seen photos of the skull and claws and had an artist (Bob Walters) do a
life restoration of the head for Dino Times, which makes it the first such
restoration of the beast based on the new material. You'll recall that this is
the large meat-eater with a 12" fin or crest running along its back. The arms
are very robust. The teeth of the upper jaw, the largest of which is 4.75"
long, overlap the bottom jaw, giving it a terrific overbite. I think this was
the case with Sue as well. Phil Currie told us that Acrocanthosaurus appears
to be related to earlier allosaurs, but doesn't look like it follows a direct
line to tyrannosaurs, implying that it branched off somewhere along the line.
It is a fantastic specimen and for the moment appears to be the second largest
specimen of a meat-eater every found, at least from reasonably complete
material.
I'm looking into the allosaur specimen you mentioned as well. Apparently, it
sizes up quite well. I don't know much more about it at this time, though.
--Thom Holmes
Dinosaur Society