New dinosaur discovered
Jawbone of Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis
Wednesday, 12, Dec 2007 02:33
Scientists believe they have found a new species of dinosaur after remains of one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs were uncovered.
They claim the dinosaur, Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis, was taller than a double-decker bus at 13 to 14m long.
Its skull was about 1.75m long and held teeth the size of bananas.
Fossils of similar dinosaurs were found in Egypt and Morocco but the latest bones show a number of differences from them - suggesting they come from a new species.
The recently-found fossils, described today in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, include several pieces of the skull and part of the neck.
Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis would have competed with other giants of its time including Spinosaurus - a sail-backed creature which grew up to 18m in length - and Abelisaurid theropods, dinosaurs that reached about 9m high.
"The Cretaceous world of 95 million years ago was a time of some of the highest sea levels and warmest climates in Earth history," said Steve Brusatte, an MSc student at Bristol University who identified the new dinosaur.
"It seems that shallow seas divided Morocco and Niger, promoting evolutionary separation of the species living in the two regions.
"This has implications for the world today in which temperatures and sea level are rising. It is precisely by studying these sorts of ecosystems that we can hope to understand how our modern world may change."
The fossils were found in Niger in 1997 on an expedition led by Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago, a co-author on the paper.