''Veterupristisaurus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

carcharodontosaurid Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the Greek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, ''carcharodontósauros'': "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931, Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae ...

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 ...

known from the

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. ...

Tendaguru The Tendaguru Formation, or Tendaguru Beds are a highly fossiliferous formation and Lagerstätte located in the Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. The formation represents the oldest sedimentary unit of the Mandawa Basin, overlying Neoprote ...

Lindi Region Lindi Region (''Mkoa wa Lindi'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Sr ...

of southeastern

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Discovery and naming

Veterupristisaurus milneri life restoration

''Veterupristisaurus'' is known from 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 ...

specimen MB R 1938, an isolated middle

caudal 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 spinal ...

. Two partially fused posterior middle caudal vertebrae, MB R 2166, from the same locality as the holotype, are referred to this genus and most probably came from the same individual. The anterior caudal vertebra, MB R 1940, may also represent this genus. The holotype was collected in the St (EH) locality of the Tendaguru in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

, from the Middle Dinosaur Member of the

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 ...

, dating to the late

Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 154.8 ±0.8 Ma and 149.2 ±0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...

to earliest

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...

faunal stage In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by conven ...

of the

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...

, about 154-150

million years ago Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...

. The

was originally referred to ''

Ceratosaurus ''Ceratosaurus'' (from Greek 'horn' and 'lizard') is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages). The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othni ...

? roechlingi'' by

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. ''Veterupristisaurus'' was named by Oliver W. M. Rauhut in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Veterupristisaurus milneri''. The generic name translates as "old shark lizard". It refers to the fact that ''Veterupristisaurus'' is currently the oldest known representative of the "shark-toothed lizards", the carcharodontosaurids. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

paleontologist 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 geolo ...

Angela C. Milner.

Description

''Veterupristisaurus'' was a large

bipedal Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' ...

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

. The length of the

vertebra is about . ''Veterupristisaurus'' has been estimated to have been about in length and to have weighed , based on the more complete and closely related ''

Acrocanthosaurus ''Acrocanthosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaurs that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous, from 113 to 110 million years ago. Like most dinosaur genera, ...

''. There are teeth from Tendaguru Formation that probably belong to this

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

. Whether the individual represented by the holotype represents an adult individual cannot be determined based on the available material. It is diagnosed by a spinoprezygapophyseal lamina in the middle caudal vertebrae extending anteriorly to the midwidth of the base of the prezygapophysis and being flanked laterally by a short, parallel lamina extending from the lateral margin of the prezygapophysis posteriorly. Thus, Rauhut considered a sister-group relationship between ''Veterupristisaurus'' and ''Acrocanthosaurus'' within the Carcharodontosauridae. In 2025, the study that described ''

Tameryraptor ''Tameryraptor'' ("thief from the beloved land") is an extinct genus of large carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian age) in what is now Egypt. It is known from a partial skeleton collected in rock layers ...

,'' which had Rauhut as a co-author, noted its only diagnostic character was shared with ''

Lusovenator ''Lusovenator'' (meaning "Portuguese hunter") is a genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Praia de Amoreira Porto-Novo Member and the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian) Assenta Me ...

'', making the validity of ''Veterupristisaurus'' questionable.

Classification

''Veterupristisaurus'' is generally recovered as a member of the

Carcharodontosauridae Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the Greek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, ''carcharodontósauros'': "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931, Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosaurida ...

although some studies find it to be a Carcharodontosaurian outside of Carcharodontosauridae instead. Cau (2024) found ''Veterupristisaurus'' to be a carcharodontosaurid forming a clade with '' Sauroniops'', ''Lusovenator'', ''

Eocarcharia ''Eocarcharia'' (meaning "dawn shark") is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaurs found in what is now the western Ténéré Desert of Niger. It is known from several skull bones collected in 2000 by an expedition to the Early Cretaceous (Aptian� ...

'', and ''

Concavenator ''Concavenator'' (meaning Cuenca hunter) is a genus of carcharodontosaurian dinosaur that lived in Spain during the Early Cretaceous epoch, about 125 million years ago. The genus contains a single species, ''Concavenator corcovatus'', named and ...

''. In 2025, the describers of ''

'' noted that the main diagnostic character of ''Veterupristisaurus'' ("a double spinoprezygapophyseal lamina in the mid-caudal vertebrae") is also seen in ''

'', making the validity of ''Veterupristisaurus'' questionable.

References

{{Portal bar, Dinosaurs, Paleontology, Tanzania Carcharodontosauridae Dinosaur genera Kimmeridgian dinosaurs Tendaguru Formation Fossil taxa described in 2011 Dinosaurs of Tanzania