Apex Predator of the Morrison Formation

Little is known about Saurophaganax maximus, the Theropod dinosaur that bullied the Allosaurus fragilis out of a meal of Camptosaurus in one of the episodes of the BBC television series “Planet Dinosaur”.  The very few fossils ascribed to this genus were dug up in the 1930s but they were not properly studied and assessed until sixty years later.

An Illustration of Saurophaganax

Big Predator of the Late Jurassic

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

On the basis of differences in cervical and caudal vertebrae the fossil material was ascribed to a separate genus away from Allosaurus but these two predators were very closely related and indeed, Saurophaganax might just be a very old and very large A. fragilis.

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