Acrocanthosaurus

extinct genus of theropod dinosaurs belonging to the Carcharodontosaurid family

Acrocanthosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Lower Cretaceous period. Its name means "high-spined lizard." This refers to the spines on its vertebrae, which formed a sail or hump when the animal was alive.

Acrocanthosaurus
Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
125 to 100 mya
Mounted Acrocanthosaurus skeleton at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Scientific classification
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Acrocanthosaurus
Glen Rose theropod and sauropod tracks, with mounted Apatosaurus in the background, AMNH

Its classification is uncertain. It was originally classified as a spinosaur because the spines on its back looked like those of Spinosaurus. However, Acrocanthosaurus is now classified as a carnosaur. Most paleontologists believe that it was a carcharodontosaurid.

Acrocanthosaurus was 38 feet long, almost as large as Tyrannosaurus rex, and weighed about 6 or 7 short tons. It was the largest theropod in North America before the evolution of the tyrannosaurs.[1]

Long, low ridges start at the nasal bones. They run along each side of the snout from the nostril back to the eye, and they continue onto the lacrimal bones.[2] This is a characteristic feature of all allosaurids.[3]

A famous trackway in Paluxy, Texas shows tracks of what might be an Acrocanthosaurus and its prey. While interesting and plausible, this hypothesis is difficult to prove, and other explanations exist.

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Acrocanthosaurus was featured in an episode of the television documentary Monsters Resurrected. It was depicted as the top predator in early Cretaceous North America. A juvenile was scared away from its kill by a pack of Deinonychus, and was forced to hunt more difficult prey, such as a Sauropelta.

References

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  1. Bates, K.T.; et al. (2009). Beckett, Ronald (ed.). "Estimating mass properties of dinosaurs using laser imaging and 3D computer modelling". PLOS ONE. 4 (2): e4532. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.4532B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004532. PMC 2639725. PMID 19225569. We therefore suggest 5750–7250 kg represents a plausible maximum body mass range for this specimen of Acrocanthosaurus.
  2. Currie, Philip J.; Carpenter, Kenneth. 2000. A new specimen of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of Oklahoma, USA. Geodiversitas 22 (2): 207–246.
  3. Holtz, Thomas R; Molnar, Ralph E. & Currie, Philip J. 2004. Basal Tetanurae. In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; & Osmólska, Halszka (eds) The Dinosauria 2nd ed, Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 71–110. ISBN 0-520-24209-2