Acrocanthosaurus

MEET THE ANIMAL

Meet Acrocanthosaurus

Acrocanthosaurus was a large meat-eating dinosaur from Early Cretaceous North America. It moved on two legs and had a substantial skull. These basic features place it among predatory dinosaurs, while the rest of its skeleton gives it a particularly recognizable outline. [D1]

Tall spines project upward from its vertebrae, the bones forming the backbone. This is one of the features researchers use to recognize Acrocanthosaurus. A particularly important specimen, NCSM 14345, was discovered in Oklahoma. It combines a nearly intact skull with an incomplete body skeleton. Preparing the fossil exposed previously hidden areas of the skull, so studying an old discovery more closely could still reveal new anatomical information. [S1]

The skull study compared its features with those of other meat-eating dinosaurs to investigate their relationships. Such comparisons placed Acrocanthosaurus among the allosauroids, within the carcharodontosaur family. A family assignment describes shared anatomical history; it does not establish identical habits for every relative. Its back spines and skull provide strong identification clues, while the reviewed evidence does not establish a courtship routine, nest arrangement or coordinated hunting behavior. [S1]