As the name implies, Giganotosaurus, simply put, was a very, very large meat-eating dinosaur which would have equalled the likes of Tyrannosaurus Rex in build and height, with fossil remains proving that in some cases they were in fact slightly larger. Estimates have placed the length of the giant dinosaur, Giganotosaurus, to be around the 46 foot mark, and it would have walked upright on two legs. Despite the imposing name of Giganotosaurus, we do however know that there were larger meat-eaters that have existed, such as the Spinosaurus, which is perhaps one of a number of reasons why they don’t have the same name recognition as the afore-mentioned dinosaurs.
Giganotosaurus or Giga as we are now going to refer to them, would have lived in the late Cretaceous period, around 100 million to 96 million years ago. Fossil remains have been discovered in Argentina, a part of South America which is becoming a real hot bed for finding larger and larger dinosaur remains.
The first discovery of the Giga was in the Patagonia region of Argentina in 1994, and the fossils were found close to the remains of a 75 foot long plant eater, which has left some experts speculating that it had fallen victim to the Giga. The dinosaur gained its name in 1995 and it maybe this fact, that they have only been known for a short spell, which is why it isn’t as instantly recognisable as some of the other more famous dinosaurs that were found in the 19th century.
Gigas would potentially have weighed in at around the 8 ton mark, which is slightly lighter than the Tyrannosaurus Rex. A fully grown adult would have stood over 11 feet at the hip and would have had large serrated teeth, roughly 8 inches long. Similar to all dinosaurs with this shape, tall with small arms and a large head, there has been debate in relation to the speed of travel. Again, similar to the T-Rex, experts have concluded that Giga would have been very fast, using its tail as a counter balance and would have hunted down its prey, rather than being a scavenger.
Giganotosaurus is yet another amazing dinosaur. The fact we have only really just discovered this creature is probably the main reason why most individual’s haven’t heard of them. If fortunes were reversed and it had been discovered in the early years of fossil collecting, then Giga would probably have featured in many films and be a house hold name similar to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. There are some great images of how experts believe this dinosaur looked, which can be found in dinosaur books and on-line. Both Safari and Bullyland have created brilliant models that are always worth a look.
