Mapusaurus

Mapusaurus ("earth lizard") was a giant carnosaurian dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of what is now Argentina.

Description

It was similar in size to its close relative Giganotosaurus, with the largest known individuals estimated as over 10.2 metres (33 ft) in length and weighing approximately 3 metric tons (3.3 short tons). The longest individual for which Coria and Currie (2006) provided an estimate is the animal to which femur MCF-PVPH-208.203 belonged; this individual is estimated as 10.2 metres (33 ft) long. Coria and Currie note the presence of isolated bones from at least one longer individual, but do not provide a figure, instead finding the larger bones comparable in size to those from a Giganotosaurus estimated at 12.2 metres (40 ft) in length. Maximum length is thus unknown but greater than 12.2 metres (40 ft). The weight estimate is from another femur (MCF-PVPH-208.234). It was furthermore concluded that the largest remain, a pubic shaft, was 110% the size of the Giganotosaurus holotype. In an analysis on the cranial anatomy of carcharodontosaurids, Drew Eddy and Julia Clarke (2011) estimated the size of Mapusaurus at 12.6 meters long (41 feet), this estimate was repeated in a calibrated phylogenetic table in a 2014 analysis by Canale et al.