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Giganotosaurus

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Dinosaurs

   iGiganotosaurus

                        Fossil range: mid Cretaceous

   Skull of Giganotosaurus
   Skull of Giganotosaurus
              Scientific classification

   Kingdom:     Animalia
   Phylum:      Chordata
   Class:       Sauropsida
   Superorder:  Dinosauria
   Order:       Saurischia
   Suborder:    Theropoda
   Infraorder:  Carnosauria
   Superfamily: Allosauroidea
   Family:      Carcharodontosauridae
   Subfamily:   Giganotosaurinae
   Genus:       Giganotosaurus

                                Binomial name

   Giganotosaurus carolinii
   Coria & Salgado, 1995

   Giganotosaurus (meaning 'giant southern lizard', derived from the
   Ancient Greek gigas/γιγας meaning 'giant', notos/νοτος meaning 'south
   wind' and saurus/σαυρος meaning 'lizard') was a carcharodontosaurid
   dinosaur that lived 93 to 89 million years ago during the Turonian
   stage of the Late Cretaceous Period. It is one of the largest known
   terrestrial carnivores, longer than Tyrannosaurus, but smaller than
   Spinosaurus.

Discovery and species

   replica, Australian Museum, Sydney
   Enlarge
   replica, Australian Museum, Sydney

   Giganotosaurus carolinii was named for Ruben Carolini, an amateur
   fossil hunter, who discovered the fossils in the deposits of the Rio
   Limay Formation of Patagonia, southern Argentina, in 1993. It was
   published by Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado in the journal Nature
   in 1995.

   The holotype specimen's (MUCPv-Ch1) skeleton was about 70% complete and
   included the skull, pelvis, leg bones and most of the backbone. A
   second specimen (MUCPv-95), 8% larger, has also been recovered. The
   largest Giganotosaurus is estimated to be 13.7 m (45 ft) long, 5-5.5 m
   (16.6-18.3 ft) tall, and weighed 5.2 tons. The specimen's skull was the
   size of a bathtub, measuring 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in). Giganotosaurus
   surpasses Tyrannosaurus rex in length by almost 2 m. .

   Giganotosaurus species
     * Giganotosaurus . carolinii

Paleobiology

   G. carolinii was larger than T. rex but had a much smaller brain that
   was the size and shape of a banana. A well-developed olfactory region
   means it probably had a good sense of smell.

   Titanosaur fossils have been recovered near the remains of
   Giganotosaurus, leading to speculation that these carnivores may have
   preyed on the giant herbivores. Fossils of related carcharodontosaurid
   fossils grouped closely together may indicate pack hunting, a behaviour
   that could possibly extend to Giganotosaurus itself.

Classification

   Giganotosaurus, along with relatives like Tyrannotitan, Mapusaurus and
   Carcharodontosaurus, are members of the carnosaur family
   Carcharodontosauridae. It and Mapusaurus have been placed in their own
   subfamily Giganotosaurinae by Coria and Currie in 2006 as more
   Carcharodontosaurid dinosaurs are found and described, allowing
   interrelationships to be calculated.

Popular Culture

   The original fossils of Giganotosaurus remain at the Carmen Funes
   Museum in Neuquen, Argentina, but replicas are common in other places,
   including the Australian Museum in Sydney.

   For such a newly discovered dinosaur, Giganotosaurus is already gaining
   a name for itself in popular culture:
     * The Giganotosaurus also appears in the Walking with Dinosaurs
       special Chased by Dinosaurs. They are seen to hunt both
       independently and in packs, working together to bring down an
       Argentinosaurus.
     * One of the alternate modes of the Transformers character Magmatron
       is a Giganotosaurus. The others are an Elasmosaurus and a
       Pteranodon.
     * The Zoids mecha Gojulas Giga is a Giganotosaurus type.
     * The PlayStation game Dino Crisis 2 features a Giganotosaurus.
       However, the size of the Giganotosaurus in the game was exaggerated
       and is much larger than in real life. In the game it is portrayed
       as being over 20 meters long and over 7 meters tall, while in real
       life it was, at most, 14 meters long and 5.5 meters tall.
     * Giganotosaurus appears in the Playstation game WarPath: Jurassic
       Park as a playable character.
     * Giganotosaurus also makes an appearance in the first person shooter
       PC game Carnivores 4: CityScape and can either be an enemy for the
       player taking the role of the Agent or can be played as if the
       player takes the role of Dino.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giganotosaurus"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
