Two strange carnivorous dinosaurs discovered in the Sahara
Two strange carnivorous dinosaurs discovered in the Sahara
mongabay.com
February 13, 2008
Two previously unknown species of dinosaur discovered in the Sahara were unusual meat-eaters, report scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of Bristol.
 Short-snouted Kryptops palaios, or “old hidden face,” was named for the horny covering that appears to have covered nearly all of its face. At about 25 feet in length, Kryptops was a voracious meat-eater and is related to another short-toothed predator Sereno’s team discovered in Niger, Rugops. Sereno and team discovered the upper jaw bone, vertebrae and ribs, and the pelvic girdle. Illustration © T. Marshall.
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Writing in the scientific journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, paleontologists Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and Stephen Brusatte of the University of Bristol say the new fossils “provide a glimpse of an earlier stage in the evolution of the bizarre meat-eaters of Gondwana, the southern landmass” that existed during the Cretaceous Period.
“T-rex has become such a fixture of Cretaceous lore, most people don’t realize that no tyrannosaur ever set foot on a southern continent,” said Sereno.
The two 110 million-year-old dinosaurs have been named Kryptops palaios and Eocarcharia dinops. Kryptops palaios attained a length of 25 feet and probably fed in a similar manner to modern day hyenas, gnawing and pulling apart a carcass. In contract, the similarly-sized Eocarcharia dinops had sharp teeth “designed for disabling live prey and severing body parts” much like a shark. In fact, Eocarcharia dinops means “fierce-eyed dawn shark” — named for its blade-shaped teeth and prominent bony eyebrow.
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