Name:
Veterupristisaurus
(old shark lizard).
Phonetic: Vet-e-ru-pris-ti-sor-us.
Named By: Oliver W. M. Rauhut - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Carcharodontosauria,
Carcharodontosauridae.
Species: V. milneri (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains, however
when originally described by Rauhut and compared to Acrocanthosaurus,
was estimated to be somewhere between 8.5 and 10 meters in
length.
Known locations: Tanzania - Tendaguru Formation.
Time period: Kimmeridgian/Tithonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Few vertebrae.
Veterupristisaurus
is a genus of carcharodontosaurid
theropod dinosaur that lived in
Africa during the late Jurassic. So far Veterupristisaurus
is only
known from a few vertebrae, but comparisons to Acrocanthosaurus
have
yielded an estimated range for the holotype individual of
Veterupristisaurus of between eight and a half and
ten meters in
length. This is well within the upper size range for
carcharodontosaurid theropods which can easily hit twelve to thirteen
meters in length.
With
the holotype specimen of Veterupristisaurus hailing
from the Tendaguru
formation we know that Veterupristisaurus lived at
the end of the
Jurassic, earlier than most other carcharodontosaurids which were
more common in the early Cretaceous and early stages of the Late
Cretaceous. This is reflected in the choice of name since
Veterupristisaurus translates as ‘old shark
lizard’.
Further reading
-Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru
(Tanzania). - Special Papers in Palaeontology 86:
195–239. - Oliver W. M. Rauhut - 2011.