Carcharodontosaurus vs Sinosauropteryx

A detailed side-by-side comparison of Carcharodontosaurus and Sinosauropteryx, covering size, diet, classification, geologic period, and discovery history.

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Property	Carcharodontosaurus	Sinosauropteryx
Scientific Name	Carcharodontosaurus saharicus	Sinosauropteryx prima
Classification	Theropoda	Theropoda
Period	Cretaceous Early	Cretaceous Early
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore
Length	12.0 m	1.0 m
Height	3.6 m	0.3 m
Weight	6.2 t	1 kg
Discovery Year	1931	1996
Discovery Location	Kem Kem Beds, Morocco	Liaoning Province, China
Named By	Ernst Stromer	Ji Qiang & Ji Shu-An

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Size Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus 12.0 m

about as long as 2 cars end-to-end

Sinosauropteryx 1.0 m

smaller than a human child

Weight Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus 6.2 t

about the weight of 1.0 elephants

Sinosauropteryx 1 kg

lighter than a human adult

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Timeline Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus

145.0 Mya Cretaceous Early (Mesozoic) 100.5 Mya

Sinosauropteryx

145.0 Mya Cretaceous Early (Mesozoic) 100.5 Mya

Carcharodontosaurus and Sinosauropteryx both lived during the Cretaceous Early period and may have shared the same habitats.

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Diet Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus

Carnivore

Carcharodontosaurus was a meat-eating predator, hunting other animals for food.

Sinosauropteryx

Carnivore

Sinosauropteryx was a meat-eating predator, hunting other animals for food.

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Classification Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Sinosauropteryx

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Both dinosaurs share a common ancestor within the Theropoda clade.

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Did You Know?

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Carcharodontosaurus was about 12.0x longer than Sinosauropteryx.

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Carcharodontosaurus weighed roughly 10333x more than Sinosauropteryx.

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Both Carcharodontosaurus and Sinosauropteryx were carnivores.

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Both dinosaurs lived during the Cretaceous Early period and may have coexisted.

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Carcharodontosaurus was discovered 65 years earlier, in 1931.

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Both belong to the Theropoda clade, making them relatively close relatives.

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Compare With Other Dinosaurs

Carcharodontosaurus vs Spinosaurus

Carnivore vs Piscivore

Sinosauropteryx vs Archaeopteryx

Carnivore vs Carnivore

Tyrannosaurus Rex vs Carcharodontosaurus

Carnivore vs Carnivore

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Explore These Dinosaurs

Carcharodontosaurus

Carcharodontosaurus saharicus

12.0m long, 3.6m tall, 6.2t · Cretaceous Early

Sinosauropteryx

Sinosauropteryx prima

1.0m long, 0.3m tall, 0.6kg · Cretaceous Early

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