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Carcharodontosaurus

Stromer, 1931 kahr-KAR-o-DON-to-SAWR-us /ˌkɑːrkəroʊˌdɒntoʊˈsɔːrəs/

From Greek Carcharodon (the great white shark genus, itself from Greek karcharos meaning 'jagged/sharp' and odous meaning 'tooth') and Greek sauros meaning 'lizard'. Full meaning: 'shark-toothed lizard'.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Carcharodontosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in Northwest Africa from about 100 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Cretaceous. The taxon was first described in 1925 by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus, based on two fossil teeth discovered in Algeria, which are now lost. A partial skeleton was discovered in Egypt as early as 1914 by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer, although Stromer did not report the find until 1931. Based on this specimen, together with the teeth previously described by Depéret and Savornin, Stromer established the genus Carcharodontosaurus and its type species (species a genus in named for) C. saharicus. Although the Egyptian skeleton was destroyed during World War II, it was subsequently redescribed as the holotype (name-bearing) specimen of a distinct carcharodontosaurid genus, Tameryraptor. In 1995, a large incomplete skull attributed to C. saharicus was discovered in the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco, which was officially proposed as the neotype (replacement holotype) in 2007. In the same year, fossils unearthed from the Farak Formation of Niger were described and named as another species, C. iguidensis, though this taxon might belong to a different genus.

Under dispute

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus is a stable carcharodontosaurine, but referral of the second species, C. iguidensis, to the genus is contested: several analyses recover C. iguidensis outside Carcharodontosaurus sensu stricto and suggest it warrants its own genus (Chiarenza and Cau, 2016; Kellermann and colleagues, 2025; Cau and Paterna, 2025).

Diagnosis

  1. Pronounced grooved sculpturing covering nearly the entire lateral surface of the maxilla
  2. Large internal carotid and paracondylar pneumatocoels (pneumatic recesses)
  3. Deep, funnel-shaped basisphenoid fossa
  4. Postaxial cervical centra low and very broad (nearly twice centrum height), with a reniform posterior articular face and a very well-developed ventral keel that is as deep as the centrum in some vertebrae

Species (2)

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Stromer, 1931

Type species

Means 'of the Sahara', referring to the Sahara Desert region of North Africa where the type specimen was found.

Neotype
SGM-Din 1 , Service Géologique du Maroc, Ministére de l’Energie et des Mines
Material
Partial cranium lacking the premaxillae, squamosals, quadratojugals, quadrates, and most of the palate.
Horizon
Douira Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
east of the oasis of Er Remlia, Errachidia, Morocco

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis Brusatte & Sereno, 2007

From Iguidi, the area of Niger where the holotype was found, with the Latin suffix '-ensis' ('from').

Holotype
MNBH IGU2 , Musée National Boubou Hama
Material
Left maxilla, missing most of the ascending ramus and the posterior end of the main body, and all erupted teeth.
Horizon
Farak Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Iguidi, west of In Abangharit, Agadez, Niger Sereno and colleagues (2026) assign the Iguidi (In Abangharit) area to the Farak Formation, from Faure's type sections north of Tanout, its fauna, and its position beneath the Cenomanian–Turonian limestone exposed to the west.
Diagnosis
  1. External antorbital fossa on the maxilla very reduced, restricted to a small area near the maxillary fenestra.
  2. Anteromedial process of the maxilla broadly arched toward the midline and not overhanging a deep ventral fossa (present in C. saharicus).
  3. Prominent horizontal crest on the medial aspect of the maxillary body.
  4. Deeply invaginated fossa on the anterior surface of the laterosphenoid ala of the braincase.
  5. Ventral margin of the maxilla nearly straight in lateral view, lacking the laterally protruding antorbital fossa rim of C. saharicus.
  6. Enamel wrinkles on the tooth crowns less numerous and confined mainly to the base of the distal carina, less developed than in C. saharicus.

References

  1. Sereno, P. C.; Vidal, D.; Myhrvold, N. P.; Johnson-Ransom, E.; Ciudad Real, M.; Baumgart, S. L.; Sánchez Fontela, N.; Green, T. L.; Saitta, E. T.; Adamou, B.; Bop, L. L.; Keillor, T. M.; Fitzgerald, E. C.; Dutheil, D. B.; Laroche, R. A. S.; Demers-Potvin, A. V.; Simarro, Á.; Gascó-Lluna, F.; Lázaro, A.; Gamonal, A.; Beightol, C. V.; Reneleau, V.; Vautrin, R.; Bertozzo, F.; Granados, A.; Kinney-Broderick, G.; Mallon, J. C.; Lindoso, R. M.; Ramezani, J. (2026). Scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species from the Sahara caps stepwise spinosaurid radiation. Science 391: eadx5486. doi:10.1126/science.adx5486

    Concludes that "both the Jenguebi and Iguidi (In Abangharit) fossil areas represent exposures of the Farak Formation".

    sereno2026a
  2. Stromer, E. (1931). Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharîjestufe (unterstes Cenoman). 10. Ein Skelett-Rest von Carcharodontosaurus nov. gen [Results of Prof. E. Stromer's research expeditions in the deserts of Egypt. II. Vertebrate remains of the Baharîje Stage (lowermost Cenomanian). 10. A skeletal remain of Carcharodontosaurus nov. gen.]. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung, Neue Folge 9: 1-23. stromer1931a
  3. Brusatte, S. L.; Sereno, P. C. (2007). A new species of Carcharodontosaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian of Niger and a revision of the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(4): 902-916. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[902:ANSOCD]2.0.CO;2

    Erects Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis on maxilla MNBH IGU2 from the Cenomanian Echkar Formation of Niger, and revises the genus.

    brusatte2007a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  5. Ibrahim, N.; Sereno, P. C.; Varricchio, D. J.; Martill, D. M.; Dutheil, D. B.; Unwin, D. M.; Baidder, L.; Larsson, H. C. E.; Zouhri, S.; Kaoukaya, A. (2020). Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco. ZooKeys 928: 1-216. doi:10.3897/zookeys.928.47517

    Recognizes the Kem Kem Group as the lower Gara Sbaa and upper Douira formations, and places the neotype cranium in the Douira Formation.

    ibrahim2020a
  6. Cau, A.; Paterna, A. (2025). Beyond the Stromer's Riddle: the impact of lumping and splitting hypotheses on the systematics of the giant predatory dinosaurs from northern Africa. Italian Journal of Geosciences 144(2): 162-185. doi:10.3301/IJG.2025.10

    Recovered C. iguidensis outside Carcharodontosaurus sensu stricto, suggesting it warrants its own genus.

    cau2025a
  7. Chiarenza, A. A.; Cau, A. (2016). A large abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Morocco and comments on the Cenomanian theropods from North Africa. PeerJ 4: e1754. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.1754

    Commenting on Cenomanian North African theropods, recovered C. iguidensis outside Carcharodontosaurus sensu stricto.

    chiarenza2016a
  8. Kellermann, M.; Cuesta, E.; Rauhut, O. W. M. (2025). Re-evaluation of the Bahariya Formation carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and its implications for allosauroid phylogeny. PLOS ONE 20(1): e0311096. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311096

    Re-evaluation supports excluding a Bahariya taxon from Carcharodontosaurus sensu stricto.

    kellermann2025a