Carcharodontosaurus vs Tyrannosaurus Rex

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

Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Carcharodontosaurus Tyrannosaurus Rex
Scientific Name Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Tyrannosaurus rex
Classification Theropoda Tyrannosauridae
Period Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late
Diet Carnivore Carnivore
Length 12.0 m 12.3 m
Height 3.6 m 3.7 m
Weight 6.2 t 8.4 t
Discovery Year 1931 1905
Discovery Location Kem Kem Beds, Morocco Montana, USA
Named By Ernst Stromer Henry Fairfield Osborn

Size Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus 12.0 m

about as long as 2 cars end-to-end

Tyrannosaurus Rex 12.3 m

about as long as 2 cars end-to-end

Weight Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus 6.2 t

about the weight of 1.0 elephants

Tyrannosaurus Rex 8.4 t

about the weight of 1.4 elephants

Timeline Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus
145.0 Mya Cretaceous Early (Mesozoic) 100.5 Mya
Tyrannosaurus Rex
100.5 Mya Cretaceous Late (Mesozoic) 66.0 Mya

Diet Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus

Carnivore

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

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Carnivore

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

Classification Comparison

Carcharodontosaurus

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Clade: Theropoda

Group: Tyrannosauridae

(Tyrant lizards)

Key Differences

  • Carcharodontosaurus (up to 12 m) was comparable in length to T. rex but had a proportionally larger skull.
  • Carcharodontosaurus had serrated, shark-like teeth for slicing flesh; T. rex had thick, bone-crushing teeth.
  • Carcharodontosaurus lived in North Africa ~95 million years ago; T. rex lived in North America ~66 million years ago.
  • T. rex had a larger brain-to-body ratio and superior binocular vision compared to Carcharodontosaurus.
  • Both were apex predators, but they never coexisted geographically or temporally.

Did You Know?

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Both Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex were carnivores.

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Carcharodontosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Early while Tyrannosaurus Rex lived during the Cretaceous Late, separated by roughly 0 million years.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex was discovered 26 years earlier, in 1905.

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Carcharodontosaurus belonged to Theropoda while Tyrannosaurus Rex belonged to Tyrannosauridae.

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