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Carnosauria
Carnosauria is an extinct group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
While Carnosauria was historically considered largely synonymous with Allosauroidea, some recent studies have revived Carnosauria as clade including both Allosauroidea and Megalosauroidea (which is sometimes recovered as paraphyletic with respect to Allosauroidea), and thus including the majority of non-coelurosaurian members of theropod clade Tetanurae. Other researchers have found Allosauroidea and Megalosauroidea to be unrelated groups.
Distinctive characteristics of carnosaurs include large eye sockets, a long narrow skull and modifications of the legs and pelvis such as the thigh (femur) being longer than the shin (tibia).
Carnosaurs first appeared in the Middle Jurassic around 174 million years ago, and the last definitive carnosaur family Carcharodontosauridae became extinct in the Turonian epoch of the Late Cretaceous around 90 million years ago. Some theropod remains, once suggested to be putative carcharodontosaurids from the Maastrichtian epoch (72–66 mya) in South America, were later reinterpreted as those of other theropod groups including the abelisaurids and maniraptorans.
Carnosauria has traditionally been used as a dumping ground for all large theropods. Even non-dinosaurs, such as the rauisuchian Teratosaurus, were once considered carnosaurs. However, analysis in the 1980s and 1990s revealed that other than size, the group shared very few characteristics, making it polyphyletic. Most former carnosaurs (such as the megalosaurids, the spinosaurids, and the ceratosaurs) were reclassified as more primitive theropods. Others (such as the tyrannosaurids) that were more closely related to birds were placed in Coelurosauria. Modern cladistic analysis defines Carnosauria as those tetanurans sharing a more recent common ancestor with Allosaurus than with modern birds.
Carnosaurs share certain distinctive features, one of which is a triangular-shaped pubic boot. They also have 3 fingers per hand, with the second and third digit being approximately equal in length. The femur is larger than the tibia. Another defining feature of carnosaurs is that the chevron bases on their tails have anterior and posterior bone growth. The largest carnosaurs can reach up to 10 meters in length. The length of the body from the tail to the hip is between 54% and 62% of the total body length, and the length of the body from the head to the hip is between 38% and 46% of the total body length. Carnosaurs scaled their limbs relative to their body in a way similar to how other large theropods, like the tyrannosaurids, did. During the Cretaceous, some carnosaurs grew to sizes similar to those of the largest tyrannosaurids. These large carnosaurs lived in the same time period as the other large theropods found in the upper Morrison and Tendaguru formations.
Carnosaurs maintained a similar center of mass across all sizes, which is found to be between 37% and 58% of the femoral length anterior to the hip. Other similarities across all carnosaurs include the structure of their hind limb and pelvis. The pelvis in particular is thought to be designed to reduce stress regardless of body size. In particular, the way the femur is inclined reduces the bending and torsion stress. Furthermore, like other animals with tails, carnosaurs possess a caudofemoralis longus (CFL) muscle that allowed them to flex theirs. Larger carnosaurs are found to have a lower CFL muscle-to-body-mass proportion that smaller carnosaurs.
In addition to body similarities, most carnosaurs, especially most allosauroids are also united by certain skull features. Some of the defining ones include a smaller mandibular fenestra, a short quadrate bone, and a short connection between the braincase and the palate. Allosauroid skulls are about 2.5 to 3 times longer as they are tall. Their narrow skull along with their serrated teeth allow carnosaurs to better slice flesh off of their prey. Carnosaur teeth are flat and have equally-sized denticles on both edges. The flat side of the tooth face the sides of the skull, while the edges align on the same plane as the skull. From analyzing the skull of different carnosaurs, the volume of the cranial vault ranges between 95 milliliters in Sinraptor to 250 milliliters in Giganotosaurus.
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Carnosauria
Carnosauria is an extinct group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
While Carnosauria was historically considered largely synonymous with Allosauroidea, some recent studies have revived Carnosauria as clade including both Allosauroidea and Megalosauroidea (which is sometimes recovered as paraphyletic with respect to Allosauroidea), and thus including the majority of non-coelurosaurian members of theropod clade Tetanurae. Other researchers have found Allosauroidea and Megalosauroidea to be unrelated groups.
Distinctive characteristics of carnosaurs include large eye sockets, a long narrow skull and modifications of the legs and pelvis such as the thigh (femur) being longer than the shin (tibia).
Carnosaurs first appeared in the Middle Jurassic around 174 million years ago, and the last definitive carnosaur family Carcharodontosauridae became extinct in the Turonian epoch of the Late Cretaceous around 90 million years ago. Some theropod remains, once suggested to be putative carcharodontosaurids from the Maastrichtian epoch (72–66 mya) in South America, were later reinterpreted as those of other theropod groups including the abelisaurids and maniraptorans.
Carnosauria has traditionally been used as a dumping ground for all large theropods. Even non-dinosaurs, such as the rauisuchian Teratosaurus, were once considered carnosaurs. However, analysis in the 1980s and 1990s revealed that other than size, the group shared very few characteristics, making it polyphyletic. Most former carnosaurs (such as the megalosaurids, the spinosaurids, and the ceratosaurs) were reclassified as more primitive theropods. Others (such as the tyrannosaurids) that were more closely related to birds were placed in Coelurosauria. Modern cladistic analysis defines Carnosauria as those tetanurans sharing a more recent common ancestor with Allosaurus than with modern birds.
Carnosaurs share certain distinctive features, one of which is a triangular-shaped pubic boot. They also have 3 fingers per hand, with the second and third digit being approximately equal in length. The femur is larger than the tibia. Another defining feature of carnosaurs is that the chevron bases on their tails have anterior and posterior bone growth. The largest carnosaurs can reach up to 10 meters in length. The length of the body from the tail to the hip is between 54% and 62% of the total body length, and the length of the body from the head to the hip is between 38% and 46% of the total body length. Carnosaurs scaled their limbs relative to their body in a way similar to how other large theropods, like the tyrannosaurids, did. During the Cretaceous, some carnosaurs grew to sizes similar to those of the largest tyrannosaurids. These large carnosaurs lived in the same time period as the other large theropods found in the upper Morrison and Tendaguru formations.
Carnosaurs maintained a similar center of mass across all sizes, which is found to be between 37% and 58% of the femoral length anterior to the hip. Other similarities across all carnosaurs include the structure of their hind limb and pelvis. The pelvis in particular is thought to be designed to reduce stress regardless of body size. In particular, the way the femur is inclined reduces the bending and torsion stress. Furthermore, like other animals with tails, carnosaurs possess a caudofemoralis longus (CFL) muscle that allowed them to flex theirs. Larger carnosaurs are found to have a lower CFL muscle-to-body-mass proportion that smaller carnosaurs.
In addition to body similarities, most carnosaurs, especially most allosauroids are also united by certain skull features. Some of the defining ones include a smaller mandibular fenestra, a short quadrate bone, and a short connection between the braincase and the palate. Allosauroid skulls are about 2.5 to 3 times longer as they are tall. Their narrow skull along with their serrated teeth allow carnosaurs to better slice flesh off of their prey. Carnosaur teeth are flat and have equally-sized denticles on both edges. The flat side of the tooth face the sides of the skull, while the edges align on the same plane as the skull. From analyzing the skull of different carnosaurs, the volume of the cranial vault ranges between 95 milliliters in Sinraptor to 250 milliliters in Giganotosaurus.