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Giganotosaurus, Early CretaceousCandeleros Formation, Argentina · named 1995
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Giganotosaurus

GIG-an-OH-toh-SORE-us

"giant southern lizard"

Lived
113 to 106 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
Diet
Carnivore
Length
about 13 m (41 ft)
Group
Theropods, Carcharodontosauridae
Found in
Argentina
Named by
Coria and Salgado 1995

Size comparison

To scale

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

4 finds

110 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

Its Candeleros Formation world included river channels and dry stretches of floodplain. Andesaurus and Buitreraptor are also known from these rocks.

Field notes

About Giganotosaurus

What it was like

Giganotosaurus was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs known, with a long, low skull and rows of blade-like, serrated teeth. It grew to roughly 12.5 meters (41 feet) long, one of the longest meat-eating dinosaurs known.

Its size rivaled Tyrannosaurus, though scientists disagree over which animal was actually bigger, since only a few incomplete skeletons of Giganotosaurus have been found. It was likely fast for its size and probably delivered quick, powerful bites rather than a single crushing one.

Its world

Giganotosaurus lived in what is now Argentina. Its best-known remains come from the Candeleros Formation. Recent radiometric dating supports an Early Cretaceous age for these rocks, revising the Late Cretaceous age used in older studies.

Meraxes and Mapusaurus come from younger rock levels in the region. These finds record different stages in the history of the landscape.

How it was found

Coria and Salgado named Giganotosaurus in 1995. Only about 4 fossil finds of the genus are known, making it a rare animal in the fossil record even though it is one of the most talked-about predators of its size. Each new bone adds useful detail to a picture that is still far from complete.

Field gallery

More views of Giganotosaurus

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Giganotosaurus in its habitat, photo 1

1 of 7

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations

A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Giganotosaurus.

The evidence

The science behind Giganotosaurus

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • The main partial skeleton preserves skull bones, vertebrae, the pelvis and large hindlimb bones.
  • Its long jaws carried flattened, serrated teeth shaped for cutting flesh.
  • An additional lower jaw adds another individual to the small collection of known remains.

Borrowed from relatives

  • Missing parts of the arms and hands are restored by comparison with Mapusaurus and Meraxes.
  • Lips over the teeth are inferred from comparisons with other theropods, including Tyrannosaurus.

Still unknown

  • What its young looked like and how their proportions changed as they grew.
  • Its color and the full pattern of its skin covering.
  • Whether it hunted in groups or cared for its young.

Often drawn wrong

  • Its skull was long and relatively low, rather than the deep, bulky shape of Tyrannosaurus.
  • Its hands are restored with three fingers, rather than the pair seen in Tyrannosaurus.

Discovery timeline

  1. 1995Named itCoria & Salgado
  2. 2003SkullCoria & Currie
  3. 2022Close relativeCanale et al.
  4. 2023Close relativeCullen et al.
  5. 2026Its worldManiel et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Giganotosaurus

Close relatives

Other members of Carcharodontosauridae

Sources: Wikidata