EXHIBIT 09
Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus carried long, serrated teeth shaped for slicing flesh.
TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST
Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.
The artist identifies this reconstruction as Giganotosaurus. Fossil-informed anatomy: Large bipedal carcharodontosaurid with strong jaws and long, blade-shaped serrated teeth. Coloration and soft tissues are interpretive; much of the tail and limbs are inferred. [1]
Giganotosaurus TD.png — TotalDino. CC BY 4.0. Remote source artwork displayed without additional cropping; Wikimedia supplies any display-size derivative.
Scientific picture served by Wikimedia · internet connection required.
Cinematic Giganotosaurus with an elongated predatory head and blade-shaped teeth; maintain a bipedal silhouette and treat surface detail as artistic. Dramatic lighting, surface detail and scenery are artistic choices. This is an original cinema-inspired picture, rather than a frame from a film or a documented fossil locality.
Original artwork · artistic interpretation.
Scientific view: credited paleoart interpreting fossil evidence, served online by Wikimedia. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Colors, soft tissues and settings involve reconstruction.
MEET THE ANIMAL
Giganotosaurus was a giant meat-eating dinosaur from Cretaceous Patagonia in Argentina. Its original description identified an imposing predator from an incomplete skeleton. Estimates of overall length and body weight therefore involve rebuilding missing parts, rather than measuring a complete living animal. [D1]
One especially informative part is its braincase, the bony region enclosing the brain. A study of Giganotosaurus carolinii described features that distinguish it from other dinosaurs, along with features useful for comparing relatives. These include the shape of the back of the skull and air spaces within one of its bones. Small anatomical details can matter greatly, even in an animal famous for its enormous overall size. [S1]
The comparisons linked Giganotosaurus closely with the North African predator Carcharodontosaurus. Researchers used this relationship to discuss connections between continents during the Cretaceous. That is a hypothesis about evolutionary and geographic history, rather than a claim that the known individual crossed an ocean. A preserved braincase can inform identification and relationships, but it does not show pack hunting, a courtship display or how parents cared for young. Those behaviors remain unresolved in the reviewed evidence. [S1]
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER
The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.
Giganotosaurus is a giant Patagonian carnivore known from incomplete skeletal material. The original G. carolinii description emphasized a relatively low skull and robust vertebrae and hindlimbs.
Profile scope: Genus — Giganotosaurus; size reconstruction concerns G. carolinii
Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.
A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.
About 12.5 m (original reconstruction)
The 1995 description estimated this total length from incomplete G. carolinii material. It is a historical reconstruction, not a measured complete skeleton or established adult maximum. [D1]
About 6–8 tonnes (original estimate)
The original abstract gives this reconstruction interval. Its detailed method was not reviewed here, and the interval is not a current population range. [D1]
Meat eater
Blade-like serrated teeth support carnivory. Proposals about hunting giant sauropods are less secure than the dietary classification. [D2]
Cretaceous Patagonia, Argentina
The original description places its fossils in Patagonia. This geographic occurrence does not establish a preferred local environment. [D1] [D2]
Two-legged terrestrial movement
The museum describes bipedal movement. A precise running speed is not established in these sources. [D2]
Low skull and robust hindlimbs
The original description identifies a relatively low skull, reduced shoulder girdle and robust vertebrae and hindlimbs. [D1]
Not established here
Reviewed sources do not establish a Giganotosaurus clutch size, nest arrangement or parental care.
Not established here
Reviewed sources do not establish Giganotosaurus displays, mating posture or courtship sequence.
Pack hunting proposed, evidence disputed
The museum discusses pack-hunting suggestions and opposing interpretations. Large prey size alone does not establish coordinated hunting. [D2]
Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.
THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS
Fossil hunter Rubén Carolini discovered the first Giganotosaurus in Patagonia in 1993. Coria and Salgado named Giganotosaurus carolinii two years later. The genus name refers to its southern location, while the species name honors the finder of the original bones. [1]
The Natural History Museum describes an approximately thirteen-metre animal but stresses that parts of the skeleton remain unknown. Its large jaws and slicing teeth indicate a carnivorous role. Suggestions of cooperative attacks on giant sauropods are hypotheses, rather than established behavior. [1]
We have not established a comparable adult total-length estimate for this taxon in this draft. Specimen measurements in the text describe those individuals. The cited dates are approximately 100–95 million years ago. Published genus-level educational dating; not a specimen age. Unknown does not mean zero.
Sources and evidence notes for this exhibit.
KEEP EXPLORING
Carcharodontosaurus
Carcharodontosaurus was named for teeth resembling those of sharks.
Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus paired two head horns with extraordinarily reduced forelimbs.
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus had short hind limbs and a broad, paddle-shaped tail.
