Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, ''carcharodontósauros'': "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivorous

theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s. In 1931,

Ernst Stromer Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach (born on 12th of June, 1871 in Nürnberg, died on 18th of December, 1952 in Erlangen) was a German paleontologist best remembered for his expedition to Egypt, during which the discovery of the first kno ...

named Carcharodontosauridae as a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, which, in modern

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

, indicates a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

within

Carnosauria Carnosauria is an extinct group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. While Carnosauria was historically considered largely synonymous with Allosauroidea, some recent studies have revived Ca ...

. Carcharodontosaurids include some of the largest land predators ever known: ''

Giganotosaurus ''Giganotosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, during the early Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (geology), period, approximately 99.6 to 95 million years ago. The holotype specim ...

'', ''

Mapusaurus ''Mapusaurus'' ( Earth lizard) is a genus of giant carcharodontosaurid carnosaurian dinosaur that lived in Argentina during the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous. Discovery ''Mapusaurus'' was excavated between 1997 and 2001, by the Argen ...

'', ''

Carcharodontosaurus ''Carcharodontosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in Northwest Africa from about 100 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first des ...

'', and ''

Tyrannotitan ''Tyrannotitan'' (; ) is a genus of large theropod dinosaur belonging to the carcharodontosaurid family. It is known from a single species, ''T. chubutensis'', which lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period in what is now Arge ...

'' all rivaled ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'' in size. Estimates give a maximum weight of for the largest carcharodontosaurids, while the smallest carcharodontosaurids were estimated to have weighed at least .

Discovery and history

Lost holotype teeth of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus

The earliest discovery of carcharodontosaurid fossils may date to 1835 with the discovery of ''

Poekilopleuron ''Poekilopleuron'' (meaning "varied ribs") is a genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur, which lived during the middle Bathonian of the Jurassic, about 168 to 166 million years ago. The genus has been used under many different spelling variants, ...

'' in

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

-aged sediments in

Normandy, France Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular Normandy (mostly the British Chann ...

and it was then described in 1836 by French

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps (; 17 January 179417 January 1867) was a French naturalist and paleontologist. His son, Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps (1830–1889), was also a paleontologist. He was born at Caen in Normandy. His parents, though p ...

. However, the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

(name-bearing) specimen, which consisted of an incomplete postcranial skeleton, was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Due to the fragmentary and destroyed nature of ''Poekilopleuron'''s fossils, little can be ascertained about its phylogenetic position or validity. However, recent phylogenetic analyses have recovered it as a basal carcharodontosaurid or carcharodontosaurian, though it has also been classified as a

metriacanthosaurid Metriacanthosauridae (Greek for "moderately-spined lizards") is an extinct family of allosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived in Europe and Asia from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. The family is split into two subgroups: Metriacant ...

megalosauroid Megalosauroidea (meaning 'great/big lizard forms') is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily (or clade) of Tetanurae, tetanuran theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. The group is defined as ''Megalosaurus, M ...

, or another position in

. Supporting Information If not ''Poekilopleuron'', the oldest discovery of carcharodontosaurid fossils would be between 1909 and 1913 with the discovery of ''

Veterupristisaurus ''Veterupristisaurus'' is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. Discovery and naming ''Veterupristisaurus'' is known from the holotype specimen MB ...

'' in the Jurassic-aged

Tendaguru Formation The Tendaguru Formation, or Tendaguru Beds are a highly List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Tanzania, fossiliferous Lithostratigraphy, formation and Lagerstätte located in the Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. The formation represe ...

of Lindi, Tanzania. These fossils, consisting of several

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into th ...

(tail)

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

e, were described by German paleontologist

Werner Janensch Werner Ernst Martin Janensch (11 November 1878 – 20 October 1969) was a German paleontologist and geologist. Biography Janensch was born at Herzberg (Elster). In addition to Friedrich von Huene, Janensch was probably Germany's most ...

in 1925 as belonging to an indeterminate large

. However after further study in 2011, German paleontologist Oliver Rauhut concluded that these vertebrae belonged to a novel genus and species of carcharodontosaurid which he named ''Veterupristisaurus milneri''. Fossils of ''

'' itself were discovered in 1924 in several

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

-aged deposits of the

Continental Intercalaire The Continental intercalaire, sometimes referred to as the Continental intercalaire Formation, is a term applied to Cretaceous strata in Northern Africa. It is the largest single stratum found in Africa to date, being between thick in some places. ...

in Timimoun, Algeria. These fossils, consisting of only two

teeth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

, were then described by French

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Charles Depéret Charles Jean Julien Depéret (25 June 1854 – 18 May 1929) was a French geologist and paleontologist. He was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Société géologique de France

and

Justin Savornin {{Short pages monitor