One of the largest land predators that ever lived, rivalling Tyrannosaurus in length but built more lightly, with a metre-and-a-half skull lined with long, blade-like serrated teeth. It stalked the lush river deltas of mid-Cretaceous North Africa alongside Spinosaurus, slicing flesh from giant sauropod prey rather than crushing bone.
Length12.5 m
Height4 m
Weight6,200 kg
Top speed32 km/h
Field notes
- Its name means "shark-toothed lizard" — its serrated teeth resembled those of the great white shark, Carcharodon.
- The best original fossils were destroyed in a 1944 Allied bombing raid on Munich during World War II.
- Its skull was around 1.6 m long, among the largest of any known land predator.