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Prehistoric Carnivores

 

The carnosaurs were a group of saurischian predators, or theropods, that grew large and had enormous hind limbs but tiny fore limbs. Tyrannosaurus rex is known to be the largest carnivore that has ever stalked Earth; its scientific name is derived from Greek words for "tyrant reptile king." However, records exist of a larger species, Spinosaurus, been discovered in 1915 but the original Spinosaurus bones were destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944. So the T. rex reigned as the king size, carnivorous land beast for decades.

 

Then along came Giganotosaurus 11 years ago. Remains of Giganotosaurus were discovered in Argentina and its weight is estimated at 8 tons.

 

Allosaurus was a gigantic, bipedal predator of the Late Jurassic. Allosaurus could grow to a length of 36 ft (12 m) and a weight of 2 tons (1.8 metric tons). The jaws of Allosaurus were loosely hinged, and they could detach to swallow large chunks of prey. The most infamous small theropod is Velociraptor, or "swift plunderer," a 6-ft-long (2-m-long) animal of the Late Cretaceous. Restorations of this fearsome, highly intelligent, pack-hunting, killing machine were used in the movie Jurassic Park. However, in recent years, remains of the velociraptor were discovered along with fossilised feathers leading archaeologists to understand that these predators were closely linked with birds and had there own plumage.

 

T-Rex	Giganotosaurus	Spinosaurus

 

Visit the image gallery for more Carnivores.

 

 

Paleontologists have only fossils to compare dinosaur sizes, and those fossils are often damaged or incomplete. The same bone from numerous specimens is often lacking, so scientists often must estimate the total size of an animal from a partial skeleton.

 

Not all meat eating dinosaurs were large. A meat-eating dinosaur the size of a small chicken roamed areas of North America 75 million years ago. he mini-dinosaur, similar in appearance to the Velociraptor, is named Hesperonychus elizabethae and is the smallest carnivorous dinosaur known to have lived in North America.

 

Just as modern meat-eating animals such as lions combine forces to pull down animals larger than themselves, many flesh-eating theropods hunted in packs. Roaming in gangs, heavily muscled, and armed with vicious claws and powerful jaws lined with sharp teeth, they were intelligent enough to band together before going into the attack. Like some sophisticated hunters today, dinosaurs may have developed tactics to outsmart their prey, such as luring them into traps or surrounding them before the attack.

 

Deep, waterlogged mud could become a death trap for victims and flesh-eating predators alike. Cries from a trapped dinosaur would attract the attention of heavyweight predators such as the Allosaurus, which would in turn sink and be engulfed by the mud. Numerous other predators would try for the easy meat and drown. The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah, USA, was once the site of just such a predator trap. Since scientists first found fossils there in 1927, more than 10,000 dinosaur bones have been unearthed, most of them from predators.

 

Paleozoic Era

Mesozoic Era