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Giganotosaurus

Say it: gig-an-OH-toe-SORE-us

Name means: “giant southern lizard”1

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersEarly Cretaceous

Giganotosaurus was one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs that ever lived. It stomped through ancient South America about 100 million years ago, hunting other dinosaurs. Its name means 'giant southern lizard' because it was found in Argentina.1 2

Lived

113 to 106 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Argentina, in the Patagonia region near Lake Ezequiel1 2

Food

Meat1

Length

12 to 13 m1 2

estimates vary

Weight

7 tonnes to 8 tonnes2

Height

7 m2

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 72 bananas end to endas heavy as 5 carsas heavy as 1.5 elephantsas heavy as 1600 watermelonstaller than a giraffe

How big was Giganotosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Giganotosaurus lived about 100 to 95 million years ago, long before the big dinosaur extinction 66 million years ago.1

Scientists have not found a complete skeleton of Giganotosaurus, so some parts of its body are still a mystery.1

Some scientists think Giganotosaurus may have hunted in packs to take down huge sauropods, but others disagree because few meat-eaters today attack prey bigger than themselves.1

Giganotosaurus was an apex predator, meaning it was at the very top of the food chain in its environment.1

Its fossils were first found in 1987 by a fossil hunter named Rubén Carolini, and the species was officially named Giganotosaurus carolinii in 1995.1 2

AI-made picture of Giganotosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Giganotosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Giganotosaurus

?How big was Giganotosaurus?

Giganotosaurus was about 12 to 13 metres (39 to 43 feet) long and weighed between 6 and 8 tonnes (6.6 to 8.8 short tons).1 2

?Was Giganotosaurus bigger than T. rex?

Giganotosaurus was probably longer but more lightly built than Tyrannosaurus rex. Some scientists think it was larger, while others think they were roughly equal in size.1 3

?What did Giganotosaurus eat?

Giganotosaurus was a meat-eater and likely the top predator of its environment. It may have hunted large sauropod dinosaurs, possibly in packs, or scavenged on dead animals.1

?When did Giganotosaurus go extinct?

Giganotosaurus went extinct around 98 million years ago, long before the mass extinction that killed most dinosaurs 66 million years ago.1

?Where was Giganotosaurus found?

Giganotosaurus fossils were discovered in Patagonia, Argentina, near Lake Ezequiel in the Candeleros Formation.1 3

?How fast could Giganotosaurus run?

Scientists do not know exactly how fast it could run, but as a large theropod it likely moved on two legs and was probably not extremely fast.1

?Did Giganotosaurus have feathers?

No fossil evidence of feathers has been found for Giganotosaurus, and it is not known to have had feathers.3

?Is Giganotosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Giganotosaurus is a dinosaur. It is a large theropod dinosaur from the family Carcharodontosauridae.1

?What does the name Giganotosaurus mean?

The name Giganotosaurus means 'giant southern lizard' in Greek, because it was a huge dinosaur found in the Southern Hemisphere.1

?Could Giganotosaurus swim?

There is no evidence that Giganotosaurus could swim. It was a land-dwelling dinosaur.3

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Myth buster

Myth: Many people think Giganotosaurus was bigger than Tyrannosaurus rex.

Truth: Giganotosaurus was longer (about 12 to 13 meters vs. 12 meters for T. rex) but lighter (about 7 to 8 tonnes vs. 8 to 14 tonnes for T. rex), so it was not necessarily bigger overall.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Giganotosaurus
Named by: Coria and Salgado 19954
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Carcharodontosauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Allosauroidea > Carcharodontosauridae4
Age of the rocks: 113 to 106 million years (Albian)4
Rock formations: Candeleros, Huincul4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first Giganotosaurus fossils were discovered in 1987 near Lake Ezequiel in Patagonia, Argentina. The species was officially named Giganotosaurus carolinii in 1995 by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado.1 2 4
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Giganotosaurus hunted alone or in packs, and what exactly it ate.1

Where the facts come from

Giganotosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Giganotosaurus (britannica.com)
Giganotosaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Giganotosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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