HOME | DD

Description
SEE UPDATED ONE HERE:

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Carnosaurs, more specifically Allosaurs are among the most iconic of all flesh-eating dinosaurs. Dominating the apex predator niche for nearly 90,000,000 years of the Mesozoic. From the type species of the entire family, Allosaurus from the Late Jurassic to the giant Giganotosaurus of the Mid-Cretaceous. However, during the Early Cretaceous, among the last and largest carnosaurs that dominated North America arose. Some 57,000,000 years prior to the arrival T.rex another titan ruled the floodplains of the American West, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis.

History of Discovery:

The story of this awe-inspiring theropod begins in 1947 in Southern Oklahoma, more specifically in Atoka County. Material from a theropod dinosaur was uncovered. It was a very fragmentary skeleton, consisting of ribs, tail vertebra, part of the pelvis and most notably, fragments of neural spines. After 3 years, American paleontologists J. Willis Stovall and Wann Langston Jr. originally described the fossil material and Langston was the one who coined the name of the specimen. While describing the specimen, originally, Langston wanted to call it “Acracanthus atokaensis”, however, while preparing the fossil, deciding to make it more formal, he coined the name, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis. The generic derived from Greek meaning “High-Spine Lizard” and the specific name a Latinized word for Atoka County. The entire name means High-Spined Lizard from Atoka County.

More fragmentary bones and specimens were discovered in the intervening years, but it was not until 1982 when a very complete specimen was uncovered from Wyoming. They pulled out a pristine skull, a complete forelimb, and a decent portion of the rest of the skeleton was preserved. This was also during the height of the Dinosaur Renaissance and allowed for the most accurate reconstruction of this awe-inspiring predator.

Moreover, footprints from the Paluxy River show what is likely to be a Acrocanthosaurus walking along a beach. Among the footprints include a theropod (Acrocanthosaurus), an ornithopod, possibly Tenontosaurus or related kin, and a massive Sauropod dubbed “Paluxysaurus jonesi” now believed to be Sauroposeidon.

Description:

Acrocanthosaurus was a massive and robust theropod. They ranged in size from 35-38ft long, 9-10.5ft tall, weighing in at around 5.5-7 tons. The skull itself was over 4ft long equipped with serrated, blade-shaped teeth designed to cut through flesh.

The forelimbs of this dinosaur were robustly built as well, tipped with menacing talons designed to pierce flesh and likely grapple onto prey (as will be discussed later).

As its name suggests, it did have “high-spines” but not as high as its distant cousins, the Spinosaurs. The neural spines protruded from the base over half a foot tall and gave it a distinct outline in terms of Allosaurs. However, these spines likely didn’t produce a pronounced spine on the animal. More likely the spines functioned as muscle attachment points for its back and likely its legs as well.

Classification:

When it was described, it was placed in the order of Carnosauria. This was when many theropod dinosaurs unearthed were just lumped into this order which included a multitude of theropods from tyrannosaurs to allosaurs. Today the order, while still in use, is largely used to describe animals that are similar to animals like Allosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus.

In 2013, it was determined that through phylogenetic studies led by Dr.Fernando Novas was an allosaur, or more specifically, a basal carcharodontosaurid. Given their prevalence across the globe, it was largely in Africa, Europe, and South America where they were the most prevalent in the cretaceous. In North America the only carcharodontosaur to be definitively named and described is Acrocanthosaurus. It could be possible that future fossil discoveries will shed light on other species in North America.

In 1988, Gregory S. Paul described what he considered to be a second species of Acrocanthosaurus from the United Kingdom. Reclassifying the taxon known as Altispinax dunkeri to Acrocanthosaurus altispinax. Most paleontologists believe this dinosaur is too fragmentary to be identified beyond it being a carnosaur. So while possible it could be an animal similar to Acrocanthosaurus, calling it a second species is sort of beyond the bounds of reason.

Habitat:

Montana 115,000,000 years ago would have been the domain for this massive predator. Two formations are associated with it, the Antler’s Formation of Oklahoma and the Cloverly Formation of Wyoming and Montana. The formation, the Cloverly Formation, was extremely different to the temperate mountain range of the Rockies and great plains of today. Primarily, it would have been a swampy environment populated with ferns, tree ferns, conifer forests and rivers would have flowed through this palustrine environment.

Dinosaurs of this environment included species like the giant sauropod Sauroposeidon which was the largest dinosaur in the region, and one of the tallest dinosaurs that ever walked the planet. The most common herbivore, Tenontosaurus would have lived alongside this dinosaur, grazing upon the fern prairies of the Cloverly Formation, and the armored nodosaur Sauropelta lived in the environment as well just to name a few species.

Deinonychus, the archetypal raptor was also from the Cloverly and Antler’s Formation and would have been in competition with Acrocanthosaurus for prey. However, Acrocanthosaurus would have been the undisputed apex predator in this region. Being such a powerful predator, the whole of the Early Cretaceous North America would have been its oyster.

Predation Habits:

While it was an apex predator, paleontologists debate to what extent this was a hunter of sauropods.

A rather infamous documentary “Monsters Resurrected” shows the Paluxy River tracks as evidence of a Acrocanthosaurus hunting a sauropod. However, that was based off a single section of the Paluxy trackway that was interpreted as an Acrocanthosaurus clinging onto the side of the sauropod dinosaur. More likely, it was just a discrepancy due to preservation bias. There is no evidence that the Paluxy tracks show evidence of a hunt.

As with many predators, it his highly unlikely even a fully grown Acrocanthosaurus would go after adult Sauroposeidon. They could have taken them down perhaps by hunting in packs or unorganized mobs, however, the evidence for this is open for debate. Furthermore, no evidence has been found on adult Sauroposeidon bones, not even any scraping bite marks from scavenged bones. So, they may have just never taken on fully grown adults and just hunted juvenile animals.

Like other dinosaurs of its kind, the teeth were thin and recurved designed to cut through flesh, but couldn’t bite through bone, it’s believed to inflict damage the animal bit through fleshier parts of the animal and strip flesh of the animal. Some paleontologists believe that dinosaurs like this could have “grazed” off of giant Sauropods, taking chunks of flesh off of them and then backing off. However, this is just a theory and pure speculation. As of today, no proof has been unearthed showing Acrocanthosaurus or other allosaurs taking part in this behavior.

The forelimbs have been subject to many areas of study. The Acrocanthosaurus found in 1982 preserved the forelimb and studies indicate it could not have swung as far out to the side or forward compared to other carnosaurs. However, there are indications that these were still usable weapons. Most paleontologists who research the forelimbs suggest it used its skull to capture the prey, and then when it brought it in close with its head, it would use its forelimbs inflict more damage to its quarry by hooking into the flesh and pulling back multiple times. The animal would eventually succumb to blood loss and shock.

Extinction:

However formidable it was, ultimately, this awesome apex predator vanished from North America some 110,000,000 years ago. The cause of extinction is unknown, but probably due to climate change. As the environment changed, the animal was unable to adapt and succumbed to extinction.

As of 2022, it is unknown if other large 30ft+ Carnosaurs were present in North America. While possible, no fossils have been unearthed yet. Thus, there is a gap in the fossil record in North America from 110,000,000 years ago with the extinction of Acrocanthosaurus to the first Tyrannosaurs some 80,000,000 years ago.

Hopefully, future fossil finds will clear this up. Until then, Acrocanthosaurus remains one of the last Carnosaurs that dominated the North American continent. With its menagerie of features, this is an animal that holds a special place in the study of these awesome theropod dinosaurs.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
This is a profile I desperately wanted to redo for a long time. Especially considering it's my favorite dinosaur. So last night I spent a good hour and a half typing it up. Furthermore, I redid the dinosaur. The old profile had a very weird pose and skull shape, so I re-meshed all of it and gave it this dynamic pose with a juvenile Sauroposeidon.

In order to rewrite it, I actually rewatched Monsters Resurrected and I wince at the logic they put together for this. The idea that the trackway shows evidence of a hunting pathway is a massive stretch, and is just ludicrous to suggest that it shows a hunt between an acro and sauro. In all likelihood, it probably just shows them walking together at different times.

As stated previously, the color pattern was mainly from the WWD Giganotosaurus, though I covered up most of its stripes on the torso with clone stamp and modified the colors. I also added a blue splotch on the head to give it a more distinctive look, and gave its spines an orange coloration.

Is this in PMP? YES. It's featured in episode 4, and I'm just putting the finishing touches on one of my favorite scenes in the story.

For Past Meets Present
Past Meets Present (Pt4 is Up) - The ZT2 Round Table

Original model by DinosaurManZT2 skin and mesh modified by me.
Giganotosaurus (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Sauroposeidon original model and skin by HENDRIX skin and model modified by me:
Argentinosaurus (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Description
SEE UPDATED ONE HERE:

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Carnosaurs, more specifically Allosaurs are among the most iconic of all flesh-eating dinosaurs. Dominating the apex predator niche for nearly 90,000,000 years of the Mesozoic. From the type species of the entire family, Allosaurus from the Late Jurassic to the giant Giganotosaurus of the Mid-Cretaceous. However, during the Early Cretaceous, among the last and largest carnosaurs that dominated North America arose. Some 57,000,000 years prior to the arrival T.rex another titan ruled the floodplains of the American West, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis.

History of Discovery:

The story of this awe-inspiring theropod begins in 1947 in Southern Oklahoma, more specifically in Atoka County. Material from a theropod dinosaur was uncovered. It was a very fragmentary skeleton, consisting of ribs, tail vertebra, part of the pelvis and most notably, fragments of neural spines. After 3 years, American paleontologists J. Willis Stovall and Wann Langston Jr. originally described the fossil material and Langston was the one who coined the name of the specimen. While describing the specimen, originally, Langston wanted to call it “Acracanthus atokaensis”, however, while preparing the fossil, deciding to make it more formal, he coined the name, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis. The generic derived from Greek meaning “High-Spine Lizard” and the specific name a Latinized word for Atoka County. The entire name means High-Spined Lizard from Atoka County.

More fragmentary bones and specimens were discovered in the intervening years, but it was not until 1982 when a very complete specimen was uncovered from Wyoming. They pulled out a pristine skull, a complete forelimb, and a decent portion of the rest of the skeleton was preserved. This was also during the height of the Dinosaur Renaissance and allowed for the most accurate reconstruction of this awe-inspiring predator.

Moreover, footprints from the Paluxy River show what is likely to be a Acrocanthosaurus walking along a beach. Among the footprints include a theropod (Acrocanthosaurus), an ornithopod, possibly Tenontosaurus or related kin, and a massive Sauropod dubbed “Paluxysaurus jonesi” now believed to be Sauroposeidon.

Description:

Acrocanthosaurus was a massive and robust theropod. They ranged in size from 35-38ft long, 9-10.5ft tall, weighing in at around 5.5-7 tons. The skull itself was over 4ft long equipped with serrated, blade-shaped teeth designed to cut through flesh.

The forelimbs of this dinosaur were robustly built as well, tipped with menacing talons designed to pierce flesh and likely grapple onto prey (as will be discussed later).

As its name suggests, it did have “high-spines” but not as high as its distant cousins, the Spinosaurs. The neural spines protruded from the base over half a foot tall and gave it a distinct outline in terms of Allosaurs. However, these spines likely didn’t produce a pronounced spine on the animal. More likely the spines functioned as muscle attachment points for its back and likely its legs as well.

Classification:

When it was described, it was placed in the order of Carnosauria. This was when many theropod dinosaurs unearthed were just lumped into this order which included a multitude of theropods from tyrannosaurs to allosaurs. Today the order, while still in use, is largely used to describe animals that are similar to animals like Allosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus.

In 2013, it was determined that through phylogenetic studies led by Dr.Fernando Novas was an allosaur, or more specifically, a basal carcharodontosaurid. Given their prevalence across the globe, it was largely in Africa, Europe, and South America where they were the most prevalent in the cretaceous. In North America the only carcharodontosaur to be definitively named and described is Acrocanthosaurus. It could be possible that future fossil discoveries will shed light on other species in North America.

In 1988, Gregory S. Paul described what he considered to be a second species of Acrocanthosaurus from the United Kingdom. Reclassifying the taxon known as Altispinax dunkeri to Acrocanthosaurus altispinax. Most paleontologists believe this dinosaur is too fragmentary to be identified beyond it being a carnosaur. So while possible it could be an animal similar to Acrocanthosaurus, calling it a second species is sort of beyond the bounds of reason.

Habitat:

Montana 115,000,000 years ago would have been the domain for this massive predator. Two formations are associated with it, the Antler’s Formation of Oklahoma and the Cloverly Formation of Wyoming and Montana. The formation, the Cloverly Formation, was extremely different to the temperate mountain range of the Rockies and great plains of today. Primarily, it would have been a swampy environment populated with ferns, tree ferns, conifer forests and rivers would have flowed through this palustrine environment.

Dinosaurs of this environment included species like the giant sauropod Sauroposeidon which was the largest dinosaur in the region, and one of the tallest dinosaurs that ever walked the planet. The most common herbivore, Tenontosaurus would have lived alongside this dinosaur, grazing upon the fern prairies of the Cloverly Formation, and the armored nodosaur Sauropelta lived in the environment as well just to name a few species.

Deinonychus, the archetypal raptor was also from the Cloverly and Antler’s Formation and would have been in competition with Acrocanthosaurus for prey. However, Acrocanthosaurus would have been the undisputed apex predator in this region. Being such a powerful predator, the whole of the Early Cretaceous North America would have been its oyster.

Predation Habits:

While it was an apex predator, paleontologists debate to what extent this was a hunter of sauropods.

A rather infamous documentary “Monsters Resurrected” shows the Paluxy River tracks as evidence of a Acrocanthosaurus hunting a sauropod. However, that was based off a single section of the Paluxy trackway that was interpreted as an Acrocanthosaurus clinging onto the side of the sauropod dinosaur. More likely, it was just a discrepancy due to preservation bias. There is no evidence that the Paluxy tracks show evidence of a hunt.

As with many predators, it his highly unlikely even a fully grown Acrocanthosaurus would go after adult Sauroposeidon. They could have taken them down perhaps by hunting in packs or unorganized mobs, however, the evidence for this is open for debate. Furthermore, no evidence has been found on adult Sauroposeidon bones, not even any scraping bite marks from scavenged bones. So, they may have just never taken on fully grown adults and just hunted juvenile animals.

Like other dinosaurs of its kind, the teeth were thin and recurved designed to cut through flesh, but couldn’t bite through bone, it’s believed to inflict damage the animal bit through fleshier parts of the animal and strip flesh of the animal. Some paleontologists believe that dinosaurs like this could have “grazed” off of giant Sauropods, taking chunks of flesh off of them and then backing off. However, this is just a theory and pure speculation. As of today, no proof has been unearthed showing Acrocanthosaurus or other allosaurs taking part in this behavior.

The forelimbs have been subject to many areas of study. The Acrocanthosaurus found in 1982 preserved the forelimb and studies indicate it could not have swung as far out to the side or forward compared to other carnosaurs. However, there are indications that these were still usable weapons. Most paleontologists who research the forelimbs suggest it used its skull to capture the prey, and then when it brought it in close with its head, it would use its forelimbs inflict more damage to its quarry by hooking into the flesh and pulling back multiple times. The animal would eventually succumb to blood loss and shock.

Extinction:

However formidable it was, ultimately, this awesome apex predator vanished from North America some 110,000,000 years ago. The cause of extinction is unknown, but probably due to climate change. As the environment changed, the animal was unable to adapt and succumbed to extinction.

As of 2022, it is unknown if other large 30ft+ Carnosaurs were present in North America. While possible, no fossils have been unearthed yet. Thus, there is a gap in the fossil record in North America from 110,000,000 years ago with the extinction of Acrocanthosaurus to the first Tyrannosaurs some 80,000,000 years ago.

Hopefully, future fossil finds will clear this up. Until then, Acrocanthosaurus remains one of the last Carnosaurs that dominated the North American continent. With its menagerie of features, this is an animal that holds a special place in the study of these awesome theropod dinosaurs.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
This is a profile I desperately wanted to redo for a long time. Especially considering it's my favorite dinosaur. So last night I spent a good hour and a half typing it up. Furthermore, I redid the dinosaur. The old profile had a very weird pose and skull shape, so I re-meshed all of it and gave it this dynamic pose with a juvenile Sauroposeidon.

In order to rewrite it, I actually rewatched Monsters Resurrected and I wince at the logic they put together for this. The idea that the trackway shows evidence of a hunting pathway is a massive stretch, and is just ludicrous to suggest that it shows a hunt between an acro and sauro. In all likelihood, it probably just shows them walking together at different times.

As stated previously, the color pattern was mainly from the WWD Giganotosaurus, though I covered up most of its stripes on the torso with clone stamp and modified the colors. I also added a blue splotch on the head to give it a more distinctive look, and gave its spines an orange coloration.

Is this in PMP? YES. It's featured in episode 4, and I'm just putting the finishing touches on one of my favorite scenes in the story.

For Past Meets Present
Past Meets Present (Pt4 is Up) - The ZT2 Round Table

Original model by DinosaurManZT2 skin and mesh modified by me.
Giganotosaurus (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Sauroposeidon original model and skin by HENDRIX skin and model modified by me:
Argentinosaurus (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom