5 Facts About the Giganotosaurus Dinosaur

Picture an extinct dinosaur longer than Tyrannosaurus rex and you have a Giganotosaurus, one of the largest and fiercest known carnivorous dinosaurs to ever walk the earth. Pronounced jig-a-Not-oh-Sawr-us, it was named in 1995 by Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado. In Greek, Giganotosaurus means "giant southern lizard". And giant it was, weighing 8 tons and being 44 to 46 feet (13.5 -14.3 m) long, with a height of 13 feet (3.9m) tall at the hips. Its skull was 6 feet (1.8 m) long. T.rex was 40-50 feet long, weighed about 5 tons and was 10 feet tall at the hips. Giganotosaurus was more lightly built and had a much smaller brain case than T.rex. Giganotosaurus had long legs, three fingered hands with sharp claws and clawed feet. It had a tiny brain about the size of a banana, and had tremendously frightening jaws filled with 8-inch long serrated teeth.

This giant meat eating animal lived about 110 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous period and toward the end of the Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Reptiles". This was about 30 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex, which was among the last of the dinosaur species alive before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 million years ago.

It is thought that this prehistoric creature ate large, plant-eating dinosaurs. Near the Giganotosaurus fossils, fossils were found of Argentinosaurus, 75-foot-long plant eaters, believed to be the victims of Giganotosaurus.

Giganotosaurus is known from the discovery of fossil skeletons. These were found in the Patagonia region of Argentina (in southern Argentina, South America). These fossils was first discovered in 1994 by Ruben Carolini, a local auto mechanic whose hobby is hunting dinosaur bones. The species was named Griganotosaurus carolinii in honor of the discoverer.

This giant meat eating animal lived about 110 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous period and toward the end of the Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Reptiles". It ate large, plant-eating dinosaurs. Near the Giganotosaurus, fossils were found of 75-foot-long plant eaters, probably the victims of Giganotosaurus.

Giganotosaurus may have been a relatively fast dinosaur walking on two legs with a slim, pointed tail that may have provided balance and quick turning while running. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology, things like leg length and estimated body mass, and fossilized trackways (which have not been found yet for Giganotosaurus). Unlike old depictions of theropods, Giganotosaurus must have held its tail erect, and did not drag it on the ground.