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Top 10 Largest Theropods - Update

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Gigadino

MemberCompsognathusNovember 08, 2014

I'm back, and since there have been a lot of new things during last months, I think it's time to update my top 10 largest Theropods list. You may find some big surprises:

#1. Tyrannosaurus rex

Everybody's favourite meat eater. Called "the absolute wardlord of the Earth" by New York Times in 1905, it's the most famous dinosaur in this list. This guy is pretty big: the largest specimen in called FMHN PR2081, or "Sue", and it's the largest good Theropod specimen: it was around to 3.5 meters tall, with a lenght of 12.3 m. This guy wasn't the longest meat-eaters but, due to its massive built, it was likely among the heaviest. Estimates for "Sue" range from as little as 5.6 t to over 9.5 t. Hartman recently proposed a lower estimate, wich puts this animal at over 8 t. It can beat any other Theropods in my list in terms of weight and since this ranking is about the largest (=heaviest), it earned the first place.

#2, #3, #4: Mapusaurus rosae, Giganotosaurus carolinii, Carcharodontosaurus saharicus

The three largest Carcharodontosaurids are very similar in size, so they share a common place.

 

Mapusaurus is often thought to be just 10-11 m long. Actually, that's just a myth. Coria & Curria, Mapusaurus's describers, mentioned some specimens comparable in size with Giganotosaurus carolinii's holotype. There is also a specimen wich is 110 % the size of Giganotosaurus carolinii's holotype. That's just a piubic shaft, so we cannot give a precise estimate for this animal. If it was really 110 % the size of G.carolinii's holotype, it was 13.6 m long, but as this is a fragmentary specimen, we don't know if it really was that large. A wiser 12-13 m range is better for large Mapusaurus specimens. A weight range similar to that of Giganotosaurus is also feasible.

 

One of the well know guys is Giganotosaurus carolinii. This south american Carcharodontosaurid was discovered back in 1993, and it was one of the largest Theropods. The first specimen is a uncomplete skeleton (around to 50-70 % complete), wich is longer than "Sue" (at 12.2-12.4 m), but lighter (at 6-7 t). A second specimen has been discovered. It's a piece of dental, and it's estimated to be 6.5 % larger than the first specimen. If it was really that big, it was 13.2 m long, but again this specimen is very fragmentary, and precise estimates aren't safe. A 12-13 m range for this specimen is pretty good. Weight estimates ranges from 5 to 14 t, but something like 7-8 t is supported by most of the paleontologist.

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus is the most fragmentary of the three. It's been discovered back in 1927, but only recently we realized how big it really was. Its size strongly depends on its proportions: if it was small-headed, like Acrocanthosaurus, well, the largest speimen, SMG-din 1, would have been a huge behemot, at almost 14 meters long. However, a such build is pretty unlikely, as Acrocanthosaurus is a less derivated Carcharodontosaurid. The much closer Giganotosaurus is a big-headed Theropod, so a big-headed build is likely for Carcharodontosaurus saharicus, too. If it was big headed, it would end up between 12 and 13 meters. Again, 12-13 m is the best range for a such fragmentary beast. A weight similar to that of other giant Carcharodontosaurids is likely.

#5: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Once regarded as the biggest Theropod, something changed during last months. In fact, Ibrahim et. al proposed a new recostruction based on new materials. This time, the animal was much closer to the ground than before, and it had a much less deep chest, thus the animal would be lighter. There is no official estimate for the new recostruction, but Andrea Cau mentioned a 6-7 t figure, wich would fit perfectly for a such gracile animal. Spinosaurus aegyptiacus still holds the record as longest Theropod though, at 12-15 meters long.

#6: Tyrannotitan chubuitensis

This guy may not be that well know among the public, but it would definitely deserve to: it's got an epic name, rivalling Tyrannosaurus rex itself. Joking aside, Cau called it "the Cinderella of Giant Theropods", because it's often forgotten, when it's the largest Theropod know from good specimens along with T.rex. Its lenght was estimated at 12.2 m, and that's the only estimate I found. There's even a 13 meters one by GSP, but seems to be based on a 13 m Giganotosaurs holotype, wich is doubtfull. The largest specimen is around as big as Giganotosaurus holotype - so, between 6 and 7 t - making it one of the largest Theropod.

#7: Deinocheirus mirificus

This guy is a new entry. Once an unsolved puzzle, today the most depicted dinosaur on Deviant Art. Only recently we realized how much strange (and big) it was; we've new materials, wich includes two new very good preserved skeletons. This animal was in the 6-6.5 t range, according to new estimates based on new specimens, so it was almost as big as Spinosaurus. Its lenght is measured at 11 m long, thus it was pretty long as well. It may hold the record as the tallest Theropod, at over 4 meters tall.

#8: Acrocanthosaurus atokensis

This guy is easily recognizable due to its muscolar ridge on its back. Even though it isn't always mentioned, it's earned its place here, as it's one of the largest Theropod, as well as apex predator of its ecosystem. The largest specimen is called "Fran", and it's indeed pretty big; it's measured to reach 11,5 meters long over the curves. Weight estimates rage between 5 and 6 t, even though Mazzetta proposed a higher weight of 7 t. Cau said that this Theropod was much more gracile than Tyrannosaurus rex, so a 5-6 t range can be good.

#9: Therizinosaurus cheloniformis

This guy isn't mentioned everywhere, but it should. It's the most massively built Theropod, even more than Tyrannosaurus rex, thus it was among the heaviest. This guy is the only herbivore in my ranking, but it was a Theropod, so I included it. I've found a lot of estimates for this animal, but a 10 meters estiamte for lenght appears to be good. This animal could have weighted around to 5 t. It may have been the tallest Theropod, only rivalled by Deinocheirus.

#10: Suchomimus tenerensis

You weren't expecting to find it here, were you? Actually, even though it's often forgotten, it definitely deserves to be there. Suchomimus's type specimen is a sub adult, yet it's very big: it was originally estimated at 11 meters, but GSP later gave a 9.5 m estimate. However, hartman recently made a skeletal of this specimen, wich is 12 meters long. And it even wasn't an adult. Weight estimates rage from 4 to over 5 tonnes, thus a 4-5 t range can be good.

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Gigadino
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But Spinosaurus appears to have been a gracile animal. It was that long mainly due the very long tail. Ibrahim et. al's model is shrink-wrapped, but a fully fleshed model would add to the animal only a few kilos.

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Tyrant king
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Spinosaurus may seem gracile but as I said before it's bones are denser due to its partial aquatic lifestyle. And the fact that spino is so freakin huge, it makes if heavy. And I even if it was shrink wrapped as you say and would only add a few kilos, I would gave to disagree since the flesh ,scales cartilege, fat ,muscle and hide would add on a lot more weight then just "a few kilos".

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Gigadino
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If you want to add muscles, cartilagine, fat etc to Spinosaurus, you can give it to every Theropods in my list. Spinosaurus was long due to its long tail, the body alone is as long as T.rex's., so it wasn't particularry huge if compared to other giant Theropods.

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Rex Fan 684
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I agree with this list. The top 5 at least. Anything below that get's sketchy, but the animals chosen are certainly among the biggest.

"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
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Gigadino
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Thank you RexFan684.

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Carnosaur
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how the hell did you get 9.5 tons as average for tyrannosaurus? also...Spinosaurus gracile? where'd you get that from? Hutchison et al. added too much flesh to their models. it's more severe in “sue” but can be seen in a. atokensis & nanotyrannus if you do this to these theropods, you have to do it with others. there's no picking & choosing. onto mapu, your analogy with T.rex is flawed. Carnosaurs have a different body morphology then tyrannosaurs. T.rex is a species where multiple individuals show differing characteristics. your better off using A. fragilis. can you post evidence of mapu being smaller then giga? we have at least 8 M.rosae individuals-- some of which were in the 11-12 m range. we can say pretty confidently it was as big if not bigger then giga. that mandible of the giga paratype was~6.5% larger then the holotype(12.2 meters) which would put it at~ 12.6-12.8 meters. but, using your logic we can't take this because individual variation is too great. see the hole in your logic? @TK it's a bone close in proximity to the femur.

Nature doesn't deceive us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

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Gigadino
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You obviously missed my point. Look at my list, I put Giga and Mapu at the same place because largest specimens are very fragmentary, and I gave a range rather than a superprecise estimate (like 13,2 m), because animal's proprtions are various. I never said that Giga is the largest, I put them at the same size. 9.5 t was only mentioned, because it comes from a scietific study, I never said that it's an average T.rex. An average T.rex is like the holotype, wich is between 6-7,5 t. I also said that a more reliable estimate for Sue is between 8 and 9 t. I used max. sizes, not averages, so, as the largest T.rex is Sue, I used Sue as my T.rex. Spinosaurus was called gracile by Andrea Cau, in his final post about new Spinosaurus. And my comparison with T.rex isn't flawed, all the animals have different proportions, not just T.rex. Also, Giganotosaurus holotype isn't 12.2 m, atleast according to Hartman, who put it at 12.4 m. However, the difference isn't great, and a such difference is almst nothing in a such big boy like Giganotosaurus.

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Tyrant king
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Why, why did you use the largest t.rex speciemen in the list? If you are gonna do that for rex you have to do that for all. You can't just put the largest individual for one species on the list but then use averages for all the other. And spino is larger then giga,carchy,mapu for reasons I stated like three times already. And please provide us with some evidence on why you think spinosaurus is so gracile.

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Gigadino
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I actually used the largest specimens for them all. 

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Tyrant king
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betterletter, but you should have used averages Instead of max. 9.5 tons seems quite large. I normaly put it at 8.5 tons. It seems like 9.5 would be the weight of those undiscribed specimens of t.tex that are HUGE. Like rigbys t.rex, Celeste, and UCMP.

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Gigadino
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The problem is we have just a small sample of specimens of some of the guys there, like Giganotosaurus. We cannot say what was Giganotosaurus average, it may have been 7 t or even as huge as 10 t.

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Hiphopananomus
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Nice list! 

Although I myself few giganotosaurus as a larger dinosaur then Mapusaurus but that's just me. 

 

P.S my reason for this is because while Mapusaurus is Possibly (not confirmed) longer then giganotosarurus, Giganotosaurus appears more robust, which in turn would make it heavier.

"Somewhere on this island is the greatest predator that ever lived. Second greatest predator must take him down."Roland Tembo"

"Jurassic park: The Lost World"

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Rex Fan 684
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Based on these skeletals(the first by Ibrihim and the second by Hartman), Spinosaurus looks pretty gracile...

 

 

But being gracile can be good in an aquatic lifestyle. It'd make the animal faster overall since it'd have less mass to move through the water.

"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
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Gigadino
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Hiphopananomus, it's hard to determinate wich animal is the animals are based on incomplete specimens. We don't really know if Mapusaurus is more slender, as the femoral that are 83 and 87 % the thickness of Giganotosaurus' holotype comes from anima, wich likely were smaller than Giganotosaurus' holotype, so I'd assume an equal bulk, and therefore an equal size, at least as long as we have just fragmentary specimens.

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Carnosaur
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@ gigadino this is the thing though, your list would be rendered void due to this fact...seeing how you claimed averages & now you're negating it. @rexfan those aren't skeletals...they're digital renderings via 3D scan. hartman tweaked it to elongate the ribcage, that's it. no one has done a skeletal on the new finds. Also, you can't tell how robust something is from a dorsal view...a full frontal view would suffice. unfortunately, there are none at the moment. Saltwater xrocs are robust animals, as well as american alligators & black caiman. Soyth American Giant river otters also jump to mind. yet they are perfectly suited to the water via semi aquatic adaptation.

Nature doesn't deceive us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

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Gigadino
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Where did I claim that those are averages? I never clamed that this list is base on averages.

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Rex Fan 684
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Ok, so technically I used the wrong term, but still. For one thing, Hartman also elongated the legs a bit. It's not quite as quadrupedal. Also, while a frontal view does help in determinging if an animal is robust, a side view can also help to a degree. These show how shallow the ribcage is. You can't fit a whole lot in that somewhat shallow area, so there'd be less weight there.

"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
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Tyrant king
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Well, giga you should have specified. And you should use averages in size lists cause it is more commonly used and better to understand.

rexfan,  many aquatic/semi aquatic animals are quite bulky. Spinosaurus certainly would be no exception.

long time no see HPP.

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Rex Fan 684
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And TK, many aquatic/semi-aquatic animals aren't, so Spinosaurus certainly could be too. Mosasaurs for example were apex predators, but had somewhat slender designs...

 

"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
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Tyrant king
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I am ranking about semi aquatic. Many semi aquatic animals such as crocs are quite bulky and since spinosaurua is semi aquatic and clislet related to crocs it eouldwould be a fairly robust animal.

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