Question from a Young Dinosaur Fan – Was Mapusaurus bigger than T. rex?

One of the many emails received this week was from a young dinosaur fan who asked the question was Mapusaurus from South America bigger than Tyrannosaurus rex?

Everything Dinosaur team members try their best to answer all the questions about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals that are sent into them.

Was Mapusaurus Bigger than T. rex?

The first fossilised remains of the dinosaur we now know as Mapusaurus (Mapusaurus roseae) were discovered in 1997, however, not in Africa where many giant meat-eating dinosaurs roamed, but in central Argentina (South America).  This dinosaur lived some thirty million years before Tyrannosaurus rex evolved.  A number of these dinosaurs were found together, this suggests that they lived in a pack and they may have specialised in attacking the huge titanosaurs that shared their environment with them.

Mapusaurus Measurements

The biggest Mapusaurus specimen is approaching T. rex size at around twelve metres in length and perhaps weighing as much as six tonnes.  This makes it only just smaller than the largest T. rex specimen known.

However, the teeth, jaws and skull of Mapusaurus was very different.  Mapusaurus had a long, narrow, lighter skull, that was not as powerful as the Tyrannosaurus rex skull.  It had more teeth in the jaw, but each tooth was thinner and narrower than typical T. rex teeth.  The teeth were probably sharper but it did not have anywhere as near a powerful bite.  Mapusaurus was probably a faster runner and more agile than T. rex.

A Model of the South American Dinosaur Mapusaurus (M. roseae)

Rose's Earth Reptile - Mapusaurus

Rose’s Earth Reptile – Mapusaurus. A replica of M. roseae, a dinosaur model in the CollectA Prehistoric Life model range.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above is the model of the carnivorous dinosaur Mapusaurus, one of Everything Dinosaur’s toys and dinosaur models which is available on the company’s award-winning website.

To view the CollectA Prehistoric Life model range in stock at Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Prehistoric Life/Prehistoric World Figures.

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