Acrocanthosaurus was a common carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaur
in North America during the mid
Cretaceous period,
between approximately 125 and 100 million
years ago. It lived in North America -
fossils of the animal have been
mainly found in the US states of Oklahoma and Texas, but fossilized teeth have been found as far East as Maryland.
Acrocanthosaurus was up to 40 feet (12 meters) long,
and weighed approximately 2.4 tons.
One usual feature of Acrocanthosaurus is the large neural spines on the
vertebrae of the neck, back, hips and upper tail.
It is not thought that it had a sail on its back like
Spinosaurus (which was unrelated, and had
much larger neural spines), but rather it is thought the spines had
attachments for powerful muscles, similar to those found in modern bison.
Its not entirely clear what the purpose of these spines and muscles were
- possibilities include fat storage, communication, or temperature regulation.
Acrocanthosaurus was a carnivore, but is not believed to have been a fast runner.
Its forelimbs and shoulders are also unusual, and seem to have been very strong,
had lots of cartilage, but been quite stiff with very limited movement.
It is thought that the forelimbs hung down and inwards, and would not have been
used for seizing prey. Acrocanthosaurus may instead have seized prey with its
jaws, and used its forelimbs to prevent the prey escaping. It is also possible
that Acrocanthosaurus may have held the prey in its jaws, and used the claws in
its forelimbs to tear gashes into the prey.
"Acrocanthosaurus" means "high-spined lizard" (referring to the neural spines on its vertebrae).
Acrocanthosaurus was a member of the Saurischia ("lizard-hipped") order of dinosaurs. What this means, is that although Acrocanthosaurus was not closely related to lizards, it did have similarly shaped pelvic bones.
Acrocanthosaurus was a Theropod - a member of a group of related bipedal dinosaurs that included the ancestors of birds (although Acrocanthosaurus was not itself an ancestor of birds).
Acrocanthosaurus lived between about 125 million years ago and 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.
Acrocanthosaurus lived in North America. Its fossils have mainly been found in the US states of Oklahoma and Texas, but fossilized teeth have been found as far East as Maryland.
Acrocanthosaurus was a carnivore (meat-eater).
Acrocanthosaurus was about 40 feet (12 meters) long.
Acrocanthosaurus weighed about 2.4 tons.
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