| Carcharodontosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian),
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| Reconstructed C. saharicus skull, Science Museum of Minnesota | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Carcharodontosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Carcharodontosaurinae |
| Genus: | †Carcharodontosaurus Stromer, 1931 |
| Type species | |
| †Carcharodontosaurus saharicus | |
| Other species | |
| Synonyms | |
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List
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Carcharodontosaurus (/ˌkɑːrkəroʊˌdɒntoʊˈsɔːrəs/; lit. 'jagged toothed lizard') is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 100 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first described from Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer during a 1914 expedition to Egypt. Stromer did not report the Egyptian find until 1931, in which he dubbed the novel genus Carcharodontosaurus, making the type species C. saharicus. Unfortunately, this skeleton was destroyed during the Second World War. In 1995 a nearly complete skull of C. saharicus, the first well-preserved specimen to be found in almost a century, was discovered in the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco; it was designated the neotype in 1996. Fossils unearthed from the Echkar Formation of northern Niger were described and named as another species, C. iguidensis, in 2007.
Carcharodontosaurus is one of the largest theropod dinosaurs known, reaching 10–12.5 m (33–41 ft) in length and approximately 4–7 metric tons (4.4–7.7 short tons) in body mass. It had a large, lightly built skull with a triangular rostrum. Its jaws were lined with sharp, recurved, serrated teeth that bear striking resemblances to those of the great white shark (genus Carcharodon), the inspiration for the name. Though giant, its cranium was made lighter by greatly expanded fossae and fenestra, but also making it more fragile than tyrannosaurids'. The forelimbs were tiny whereas the hindlimbs were robust and muscular. Like most other theropods, it had an elongated tail for balance.
Many gigantic theropods are known from North Africa during this period, including both species of Carcharodontosaurus as well as the spinosaurid Spinosaurus, the possible ceratosaur Deltadromeus, the large, dubious theropod Bahariasaurus, and an unnamed large abelisaurid. Studies of the bite force and tooth anatomy of carcharodontosaurids have found them to possess strong, but relatively weak bites compared to other theropod families. North Africa at the time was blanketed in mangrove forests and wetlands, creating a hotspot of fish, crocodyliforms, and pterosaur diversity.