Re: bigger that the king?

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Chantre E Rodriguez wrote:

<Is there a meat eating dinosaurs bigger that T. Rex? If so, what is
the name(s) of it? And How tall is it? When was it found?> 

  Once, there were two.

  *Carcharodontosaurus saharicus* was a pretty large African that has
only recently been known by any big amount of bones. The skull was
thought to be just less than an inch longer than *Tyrannosaurus*, but
this later proved incorrect, and the skull was actually a few inches
shorter. The whole skeleton, it turned out, was smaller than
*Tyrannosaurus*. Loser. I still liek this dinosaur, though, one of the
coolest (heh heh, pun here) things to come out of the Sahara Desert.

  A few years later, in 1996, *Giganotosaurus carolinii* was found in
another desert-like environment, Patagonia in Argentina, and it's size
shocked many. Not problems with measurements here: the skull and whole
body length are longer than *Tyrannosaurus* (the skul by a few inches,
and the body by about half a foot), but was on the whole thinner and
lighter than *Tyrannosaurus*. The Tyrant Lizard King probably
outweighted him by a ton. Another loser. Still cool.

  Size for size, pound for pound, only four theropods are known to
step over the 40 ft. mark:

  *Acrocanthosaurus atokensis* - 40 ft.
  *Carcharodontosaurus sharicus* - 41 ft?
  *Giganotosaurus carolinii* - 44-45 ft?
  *Tyrannosaurus rex* - 45 ft.

  A fifth theropod may also contend for the world's longest title:

  *Spinosaurus aegyptiacus* - 50 ft?

  but is so incomplete this is just an estimate on a few vetrebrae,
most of which are dorsals (back bones).

  Hence, Rexie's still king. And I hope he never loses his title. (Or
hers---apparently, the females of the bunch were bigger than the wimpy
little men -- Back to you, Sue.)

==
Jaime A. Headden

Qilong, the website, at:
http://members.tripod.com/~Qilong/qilong.html
---
All comments and criticisms are welcome!

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