Forum Topic
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 6:19 PMThere are 4 notable large carnivores from the late Jurassic. They are Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Torvosaurus, and Saurophaganax. So which of these is the true top predator of the late Jurassic? Even though Ceratosaurus may be my second favorite dinosaur, it was just not large enough to be the top predator. A large and dangerous animal, but not the top predator. So let's break the other 3 down shall we?
(Sizes are based off of my estimations and theories. Epanterias is excluded due to questionable validity. Everything said is my opinion)
Saurophaganax-
Averaged 30-33 ft long and 3 tons
Max size is 36-43 ft long and 3.5-4.5 tons
[img]http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130420202534/planetdinosaur/images/1/19/Saurophaganax.png[/img]
Torvosaurus-
Averaged 29-33 ft long and 2-3 tons
Max Size is 36-40 ft long and 3.5-4 tons
[img]http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120730171023/dinosaurs/images/2/2e/Dinosaur-revolution-torvosaurus-2.jpg[/img]
Allosaurus-
Averaged 26-33 ft long and 1.5-3 tons
Max Size is 36-40 ft long and 3.5-4 tons
[img]http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/naturelibrary/images/ic/credit/640x395/a/al/allosaurus/allosaurus_1.jpg[/img]
Personally, I think Allosaurus was the top predator. Even though Torvosaurus and Saurophaganax rivaled, if not exceeded, Allosaurus in size, they were not nearly as common. Allosaurus stands out as the most common large theropod of the late Jurassic. What that tells me is that Allosaurus was not only one of the largest predators in it's ecosystem, it was possibly the most efficient. It's size, relative intelligence(for it's time), pack hunting nature, and numbers make Allosaurus the top predator of the late Jurassic in my opinion.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
15 Replies
Makaveli7
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 7:16 PMOkay, a few criticisms, all on size.
Saurophaganax is 36 feet from the smallest specimen, the rest are between 40 and 43 feet and the largest is undescribed though rumored to be around 50. Weight on average was about 6 or 6.5 tons based on Allosaurus.
Torvosaurus t., the American Torvosaurus, was around 30-33 feet on average and maxed at 35. Weight centered around 4 tons.
The European Torvosaurus, Torvosaurus s., averaged 40 feet and was up to 43 feet based on a skull. Weight averaged 7 tons based on Edmarka rex.
Allosaurus fragilis measured around 30-33 feet on average while the largest, "Epanterias", was 40 feet and was just very likely an extremely old A. fragilis, like sue was a very old Tyrannosaurus rex. Weight centered around 3 tons based on numerous specimens.
The way I see it, Allosaurus was likely the apex predator, being far more numerous, but then again, it could be like the coyote to Saurophaganax's wolf and Torvosaurus' mountain lion, and Ceratosaurus was the wolverine.
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Deltadromeus
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:08 PMOkay, I don't agree with your sizes, but I'm not arguing, they are your sizes. These are my opinions. Top four predators of jurassic, Yangchuanosaurus magnus, Torvosaurus, Allosaurus amplexus, Saurophaganax. Saurophaganax is 40+ feet and I think it would have been one of the dead.iest, even though it wasn't in great numbers. Torvosaurus had a wicked bite, and was 35-40 feet long. Yangchuanosaurus magnus was 36 feet long, and was 5 tons. A amplexus was 38 feet long and also five tons. Not sure on weight for sauro or Torvosaurus, but I think Saurophaganax is the winner,if it is not das monster Von Midan.
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Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:26 PMI should have mentioned I was not getting into exact species. My bad.
Yangchuanosaurus lived slightly before the other dinosaurs, so I don't include it.
Like I said, everything stated was my opinion.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
Deltadromeus
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:34 PMThe only reason I used species names is because a amplexus was bigger than a fragilis. And y magnus was bigger than y shangyouensis.
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Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:39 PMYeah, I figured.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
Deltadromeus
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:41 PMAs for timeline, Yangchuanosaurus was late-middle to middle-late jurassic, so I would consider it a valid choice.
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Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 8:45 PMIt also lived in a different area. Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, and Saurophaganax all had overlapping territories in Europe and North America while Yangchuanosaurus lived in Asia.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
jurassicparkour
MemberCompsognathusAug-28-2013 9:30 PMSaurophaganax is considered by some paleontologists to be a species of Allosaurus, but I guess that it counts as a separate genus. And who says that Torvosaurus and Saurophaganax weren't as common as Allosaurus? They might just be less common in the fossil record...
Gigadino
MemberCompsognathusAug-29-2013 6:40 AMSaurophaganax is just 38 ft long and 4-5 t, based on a homerus of 480 mm (instead 545 mm as originally reported).
Torvosaurus sp. is just 30 ft long, as his skull isn't 158 cm, but 117 cm.
Allosaurus is about 36 feet long.
DinoFights
MemberCompsognathusAug-29-2013 12:44 PMI'm sure they all have unique niches as predators.
Saurophaganax and Allosaurus fragilis were likely pack hunting sauropod hunters that would also occasionally hunt stegosaurs.
Ceratosaurus were generalistic predators, eating anything they could, primarily small stegosaurs.
Torvosaurus and Edmarka (if not synonymous) hunted large prey like Dacentrurus, Dinheirosaurus, Allosaurus(?) and etc.
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Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-29-2013 5:10 PMSaurophaganax was like the lion.
Torvosaurus was the hyena.
Allosaurus was the leopard.
Ceratosaurus was the wild dog.
Not a perfect analogy, but the best I could come up with. Torvosaurus may be more of a leopard and Allosaurus is more of a cheetah, but it's debatable.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
Deltadromeus
MemberCompsognathusAug-29-2013 5:20 PMI would say that Saurophaganax is a tiger, allosaurus is a pack of lions. Torvosaurus is a jaguar and Ceratosaurus is the cheetah.
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Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-29-2013 5:32 PMWell, I was doing African predators, haha. But that works too.
"Men like me don't start the wars. We just die in them. We've always died in them, and we always will. We don't expect any praise for it, no parades. No one knows our names."
―Alpha-98
ankybeatsall2468
MemberCompsognathusDec-28-2015 11:19 AMhmm. I thought allo was the lion and yang was the tiger. I agree with everything stated above; the sizes were a bit wacky but allosaurus is still the king because of its extremely widespread range.
I Meme Everything
MemberAllosaurusAug-06-2016 6:40 PMI'd say Saurophaganax
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