Eocarcharia
Encyclopedia
Eocarcharia is a genus
of carcharodontosaurid
theropod dinosaur
from the Early Cretaceous
Elrhaz Formation
that lived in the Sahara
112 million years ago, in what today is the country of Niger
. It was discovered in 2000 on an expedition led by University of Chicago
paleontologist Paul Sereno
. The type and only species is Eocarcharia dinops. Its teeth were shaped like blades and were used for disabling live prey and ripping apart body parts. Eocarcharia’ s brow is swollen into a massive band of bone, giving it a menacing glare (leading to the specific name dinops or "fierce-eyed"). It may have reached lengths of 8-12 m (26-39 ft).
, it is believed that since they were of similar size they competed. However, it was smaller than Carcharodontosaurus and when the giant Sauropods like Paralititan
thrived, it couldn't hunt them. So it was outcompeted by Carcharodontosaurus and so may have died out that way. Or it simply became a scavenger living off the scraps off bigger dinosaurs.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of carcharodontosaurid
Carcharodontosauridae
Carcharodontosaurids were a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931 Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, in modern paleontology this name indicates a clade within Carnosauria...
theropod dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
from the Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
Elrhaz Formation
Elrhaz Formation
The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous...
that lived in the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
112 million years ago, in what today is the country of Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. It was discovered in 2000 on an expedition led by University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
paleontologist Paul Sereno
Paul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
. The type and only species is Eocarcharia dinops. Its teeth were shaped like blades and were used for disabling live prey and ripping apart body parts. Eocarcharia
Relation to Carcharodontosaurus
Since it existed 15 million years before CarcharodontosaurusCarcharodontosaurus
Carcharodontosaurus was a gigantic carnivorous carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 100 to 93 million years ago, during the late Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous Period...
, it is believed that since they were of similar size they competed. However, it was smaller than Carcharodontosaurus and when the giant Sauropods like Paralititan
Paralititan
Paralititan was a giant titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur genus discovered in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The fossil represents the first tetrapod reported from the Bahariya Formation since 1935. Its 1.69 meter long humerus is longer than that of any...
thrived, it couldn't hunt them. So it was outcompeted by Carcharodontosaurus and so may have died out that way. Or it simply became a scavenger living off the scraps off bigger dinosaurs.