A new species of huge shark-toothed dinosaur has ruled over even tyrannosaurs

Tyrannosaurus Rex is arguably the most famous predator among dinosaurs, but this late Cretaceous king did not always hold the top spot. New research describes deadly predator with jagged teeth like those of a shark that stomped before the Tyrannosaurus genre entered the scene. Appointed Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis by researchers at the University of Tsukuba, the new genus and new species of dinosaur were gleaned from fossil evidence found in the Lower Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of the Kyzylkum Desert in Uzbekistan and although there had not much to work with, what he tells us is that this killer was an absolute unit.

Published in the Royal Society Open Science, the study was able to estimate the size of U. uzbekistanensis from a single fossil isolated from the upper jaw. Among theropods – a group of bipedal three-toed dinosaurs – the size of the maxilla can be used to estimate their actual size in life as it correlates with the length of the femur which is a reasonable size marker (to our knowledge it not all known dinosaurs with leg stilts although we would love to be wrong on this one).

Using this rule, the researchers were able to verify that U. uzbekistanensis was approximately 7.5 to 8 meters (24.6 to 26.2 feet) long and weighed approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds). This makes it significantly larger than the Tyrannosauroides alive at the time, primitive parents of T. rex‘s Tyrannosaurus kind. A possible competitor could have been Timurlengia, a Tyrannosaurid who lived in the same place and at the same age as U. uzbekistanensis, but measuring only 3 to 4 meters (9.8 to 13 feet) indicates that they would probably have hunted different prey.

U. uzbekistanensis joined the Carcharodontosaurs dinosaurs for its teeth, which were jagged like a bread knife. This group of dinosaurs is named after the genus shark Carcharodon, which is inspired by the Greek karchar for “jagged” and odōn for “teeth”. Such squeakers would have made U. uzbekistanensis a competent meat eater.

The discovery is fascinating, not only for introducing a new character to dinosaur-themed disaster films, but also for shedding new light on the role of Carcharodontosaurs as supreme predators ruling over the relatively puny tyrannosaurs who walked among her.

“Our discovery provides evidence that predators Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs coexisted in the region at that time, and that Carcharodontosaurs were the dominant predators of the smaller ones Tyrannosaurs (which became larger later in the Cretaceous), ”corresponding author Kohei Tanaka told IFLScience.

“We would like to see more fossil material in Asia in order to understand the evolution and competition of predatory dinosaurs.”