The Largest Jurassic Carnivore To Ever Exist 

"Some paleontologists think it wasn't all that much of a hunter, rather a specialized scavenger." Oh no, here we go again...

It never ceases to amaze me whenever I encounter numbers like the reign of a predatory dinosaur 150 million years ago. When you contemplate that figure, it's mind-boggling to consider that the T-Rex, which ruled around 70 million years ago, is far closer to our era than to its own kind.

Agree with both the predator and scavenger theory. This behavior is often seen in the wild today. Lions and hyenas fill both roles.

Thank you btw for sourcing the art. Makes it so much easier to look the artists up :)

Awesome therapod. I hope he is represented well in a future Hollywood film. It was these guys that would give rise to the carcharodontosaurids in the early cretaceous.

Even if it is an Allosaurus, Saurophaganax is still an awesome name.

I love the fact that due to the sheer size of Saurophaganax, it has been hypothesized before that it was an early carcharodontosaurid, rather than an allosaurid. And honestly I wouldn't be surprised nor would I be disapointed if it actually turned out to be one.

Wasn't Saurophaganax the largest Jurassic carnivore in the Morris Formation only? Because the biggest Jurassic carnivore to have ever existed would be Torvosaurus gurneyi from the Lourinha Formation, which was slightly more massive than Morrison's Lord of the Lizard Eater. Saurophaganax was longer for sure, but as we know by now, size is determined by mass and not by length, and Lourinha's Torvosaurus was heavier than Morrison's Saurophaganax.

Key phrase to the T-Rex Stans “Largest *Jurassic* Carnivore”

The Saurophaganax couldn’t have been a pure scavenger; it is too large.

You'd think the concept of an Allosaurus but bigger would be popular but I don't hear it talked about at all funnily enough

2:24 That's a chonky spinosaurus!

Funny how Allosaurus went from having a pretty weak bite to quite strong one

All of the dinosaur types existed and lived as independent actors and filled different niches as they morphed through their body changes. Sheeesh

Saurophaganax has one of the coolest names to be fair.

Hollywood needs to popularize this beast

6:35 or the massive A. fragilis theory is right after all and the species just rarely reached such excessive sizes.

I'm really curious honestly - what was the reason for the immense diversity of different sauropods in the Morrison formation? So many apatosaurines, dicraeosaurids, and other diplodocids all seems like they would be competing tremendously! Did they differ in which layer of the Morrison they lived in (and as such could represent transitional species the same way many late Cretaceous ceratopsids exist along a spectrum through time) or were they just incredibly niche-partitioned? If it's the latter, I'd love to know how their niches differed, and if it's the former, I'd love to peruse a speculative family tree through time.

a true "Big Alice"

No Dinosaur King reference? Not an OG Saurophaganax appreciator.

Well whilst epantreus and saurophaginax have both been considered to be synonymous with allosaurus I think its telling that epantreus and saurophaginax have never been considered synonymous, we have vertebrae of both and they are different. Epantreus seems to have the vertebrae you'd expect from a scaled up allosaurus.

I think another reason why fossils for saurophaganax being so rare is because at the time the rocky mountains where being formed cousing fossils to become covered in thousands of tons of dirt and rock, and where the rockys are today where the preferred area for the species, a possible ecosystem that had been perfect for the species with the odd few moving into the rest of the formation.

Welp Lions and tigers pretty much look identical anatomically but are still a different species. Hell if they were long extinct we may have trouble recognizing them as as a separate species off the jump.🤔

Saurophaganax Lord of the Morrison

Bro I love ur vids, got me out here wondering about the logistics of how common other animals would witness a sauro

Love the graphics in these videos. Fascinating stuff. Thank you .

a bit like lions do with hyenas... people used to think that hyenas were scavengers and cowardly.. turns out they hunt and are more successful than lions at hunting and that lions often steal THEIR kils rather than the other way around.. so the saurophaganax being slower could suggest it was more like the lion of our day.. hunting occasionally but mostly stealing prey from other weaker but more successful hunters

Yangchuanosaurus and Tyrannotitan deserve a video

Great video as usual!👍

What do you guys think about Saurophaganax in reality being the adult form of Allosaurus fragilis? Given the similarities between the two species, there would be too much direct competition between juvenile Saurophaganax and Allosaurus if both coexisted in the same environment.

It's amazing to me how paleontologists determine the age of the fossils and how they can tell species apart from fossils. The sauropods all look the same to me. Predators also.

My favorite dino! It is still my profile pic for 6 years

I believe they were similar to mountain lions in that they had a massive territory it probably ran other males of their kind out of it

I loved this keep it up Extinct Zoo

Trex is slowly losing its throne

I really like the head gear and longer arm claws but Allosaurus and T.Rex are still my two favorite carnivores. 😄👍

Very well done

Size probably shouldn’t be used as a good analogue for genus. Tigers are 3-5x heavier than Leopards but are in the same genus.

It's all up in the air till we get more parts as far as I am concerned.There was the unnamed 97% complete allosaur(but crucially not allosaurus(crucially it seems to lack the identifying traits of saurophahinax)( unless they were just saying that their palentologists said it was a new genus becausethey wanted more money for it) that was auctioned in Paris in 2017(I think it was? Still extra salty about it, IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!) and this shows the Morrison Formation had a larger diversity in allosaur therapods than we previously thought. I think in light of this excellent specimen, that is understudied, unappreciated and sadly inaccessible it's not unreasonable to think that saurophaginax could be another genus of allosaur getting around in the morrison, and not an allosaurus. I personally think saurophaginax is its own genus though.

I love how Allo,Cera and Torvo are considered the big three of the late jurrassic period

Top 5 largest jurassic theropods 1. Saurophaganax maximus: Length- 12.8m (42 feet) Weights- 8.3 tonnes 2. French Megalosaurid: Length- 12.3m ( 41 feet) Weight- 6.32 tonnes 3. Veterupristisaurus milneri: Length- 11.3m ( 37 feet) Weight- 5.54 tonnes 4. Torvosaurus ingens: Length- 11.7m ( 39 feet) Weight- 5.53 tonnes 5. Megalosauridae indet: Length- 11.4m ( 38 feet) Weight- 5.51 tonnes

ExtinctZoo is vastly more interesting than a regular zoo.😂

What if alot of these specimens across all species found are really just growth/ maturity differences? Is it possible the large specimens are rare individuals that weren't eaten and able to grow bigger? It would be amazing to have a time machine to have all the real answers for sure. Interesting stuff.

Besides from the Savage-Lizard itself S. maximus is among, my personal favorite theropods.

This just shows how unique is T-rex and whole members of Tyrannosaurid

Thank you ... I had no idea this animal actually existed !!!!

Thanks for doing great work!

Finally giving my boy some credit 🔥

I don't like the idea of it being a scavenger. Firstly it can't fly, so it's not a vulture and secondly there is no terrestrial large bodied scavengers as that just can't work. Yeah sure no-one else in the morrison is going to argue much when a big saurophaginax decides to take their kill, but lions tigers and bears do literally the same thing today and they are not considered 'mainly scavengers'.

It was an Allosarrus, same as the larger Kodiak Bear is still a Grizzly Bear

On the Speed issue my understanding that T-Rex was. Labeled for years as slow. Only now deep investigations and facts from them says that's false and T-Rex was exceedingly fast.

It was so mean because the other dinosaurs called it Phag-o-saurus.

My favorite dinosaur since the early 90s!

"Only" 150 Million Years. 👀

01:08.. Now that is a cool looking dinosaur.

With all the similarities between saurophaganax and Alosaurus. I'm thinking it is probably a larger version of an alosaurus. Consider Kodiak, brown, and grizzly bears. For all intents and purposes the same animal. Basically diet is what seperates them. With the Kodiak being the biggest due to its access to a protein and fat rich diet.🤷‍♂️Nothing wrong with being a giant Alosaurus.

If this monster was larger than the Allosaurus, then I wonder if it was almost as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Well there I some midd Jurrassic aged footprints down a coalmine near Toowoomba, they're actually in the layer above the coal deposit so they are along the roof of the mine, and they are from an approximately 12-13m long animal. There was a study to compare the footprints with those of other giant therapods and the feet of them so I imagine the estimate is probably pretty accurate. So it would likely seem larger.

Regarding the scavenger/predator question I think most carnivorous dinosaurs would do both. With the size and body mass they were then they would require a lot of fuel,meat, to survive. As well, were any of these dinosaurs pack hunters? The bigger one could have been more solitary ambush hunters due perhaps to lack of sustained speed while smaller carnivores could be pack hunters. I don’t know if the pack hunters would have the intelligence to coordinate a hunt but if they did then the bigger dinosaur could force them smaller ones off their kill, much like lions vs hyenas. Big ole dinos were probably mostly hunters their abilities defined by the ecological niche they were in but I should think they wouldn’t pass up a free meal when one presents itself.

isn't torvosaurus gurneyi the biggest therapod during the Late Jurassic Period? He's 5 Metric Tons

Dang do I love this dinosaur and it’s cool ass name. I fell in love with this when I saw it on dinosaur king. Number one favorite dinosaur of all time for me :).

nice vid

What's the source of the thumbnail?

How come the coolest of theropods are debated so much

39 feet is HUGE.

Made my evening!

Imagine if we found a corner of the world still containing prehistoric dinosaur relatives closer to their ancestral origins than their modern day descendants

holy shit! I was just at that museum!! 2:46 at that museum they also have the largest complete dinosaur skull!

Torvo is larger and heavier then saurophagnax but yea sauro is a tad bit smaller

My fav dinosaur, this video was great 👍

as far as i know most of the past around 80% will be always uknown, there might have been much bigger animals, but we will never know

Great video.

Why do they always show giant sauropods in the desert ? they would not live for long in a desert seeing as they had to consume several tons of food per day

I ended up dreaming about dinosaurs after watching this, as it was the last thing I watched before falling asleep.

First time I hear of this one!

Yeah, thank you to mention Epanterias - because the size of this carnivore is too often forged.

It's more complicated with Saurophaganax Because Saurophaganax was actually the same size as tyrannosaurus Height: 4-4.5 meters tall 14 to 15 ft tall Length: 10.5-13 meters long 35-43 ft long Weight: 2.7 to 4.3 tons www.google.com/search?q=saurophaganax+size&client=ms-android-boostdish-us-revc&sca_esv=c7a0e9feb6fce5cb&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIKoH_iUR-EvrewgCmVNoENwITuQMA%3A1724738984934&ei=qG3NZt7hONKqwbkPu9bosAE&oq=saurophaganax+size&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhJzYXVyb3BoYWdhbmF4IHNpemUyCxAAGIAEGJECGIoFMgUQABiABDIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHkiaIlDjB1jiHHABeAGQAQCYAW-gAd8HqgEDNS41uAEDyAEA-AEBmAILoALlCMICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAg0QLhiABBiwAxhDGIoFwgINEAAYgAQYsAMYQxiKBcICChAjGIAEGCcYigXCAgUQIRigAcICCBAAGBYYChgewgILEAAYgAQYhgMYigXCAg8QIxiABBgnGIoFGEYY-wHCAgoQABiABBgUGIcCwgIFEC4YgASYAwCIBgGQBg-SBwMzLjigB_5G&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

Although I would have liked if Torvosaurus was the largest theropod of the jurassic since it's my favorite prehistoric animal, Sauro indeed take this title and it seems like its not even close. Unlike most people think Saurophaganax max size isnt 4-5 tons, there are in fact undescribed specimens significantly larger, 7shots a paleontology student with actual access to the 230 undescribed isolated bones said the average size was probably around ~6 tons for the most completes specimens and that the 3-4 largest were 7-8+ tons. To give you an idea, some bones are comparable, potentially larger than the giga holotype. The general idea of Saurophaganax is a slender, fast theropod when in reality it was quite the inverse, it was very robustly build, with a very deep torso. Its heavier than Edmarka rex (T. tanneri) at same length, it was also a very slow animal because of its robustness and also since it had an underdevelloped fourth trochanter, associated with the caudofemoralis muscle, it gives less power in the tail and reduce the speed. But do keep in mind that all theses saurophaganax sizes estimates aren't as reliable as other theropods cause like i said, theses are based on undescribed remains and the estimates arent based on reliable methods rather guesses given photos of the gigantic bones, 7shots is currently working on a paper tho so we'll have to wait. Finally note that although having a very bulky build, it also had massives arms which probably played a role in macropredations against the many sauropods of Morisson.

I can't believe that you didn't mention the Not-yet-grasshoppers!

Is that little bird a ravenous lizard eater to get such a name?

Congratulations on getting through those names without slobbering all over yourself.

My favourite 2 dinosaurs, my number 1 fav that I claim to be my second fav when rlly it’s my first fav is Saurophaganax, my second fav is Allosaurus Fragilis.

3:40 mental spasms the next level. Are these Paleohacks drunk or just mentally not quite there?!

I noticed you listed " Brontosaurus " , I thought that name from my era ,was done away with ? Isn't it now just " Apta( something)saurus " ( sorry , I forget the spelling! ) ?

beast

Another reason for there only being rare finds of the Saurophaganax could be that the preserved bits were on the very southern of northern extremes of its habitat where it hardly ever strayed. Like Mooses in Florida or Lions in Germany?

How stupid are people? Jus bc its big and probably slow doesnt mean it has to be a scavenger... not every predator runs down their prey, actually most predators are ambush hunters which is probably what this dino did. I dont buy that it was a scavenger jus bc of its size... same with T. Rex, theres no doubt in my mind that they werent ambush hunters, im sure they scavenged from time to time when they had the opportunity but they probably also hunted.

Can you make a video about the 3rd king of Cretaceous North America after Acrocanthosaurus and before T-Rex? Siats Meekerorum.

7:37 It amazes me how much you can get off a handful of bones

Given how much the paleo community likes to talk about Saurophaganax, you'd think it was a dinosaur with some substantial amount of remains and not a dinosaur we know almost nothing about.

It is possible to be a branch of Allosarus that grew much larger for a time and didn't go on much longer or widespread. Such as Siberian tiger vs Asian tigers or Sumatra tiger. A localized evolution for specific environment and prey.

Let’s face it. “Saurophagonax” is the most badass dinosaur name ever.

To me, it has total sense for the Saurophaganax to be a scavenger, I mean, look at hyenas...

the famous Roman "Bigisdikus" was a big fan of this troop

“Shpechemin” - this guy

Ive always been on the team thag its just a big Allosaurus. It would explain why they are so similar but also be a big reason as to why they are so rare.

1:07 is this actually a dinosaur model or is it an art? Looks so good!

some paleontologists seem to forget how ridiculously slow stegosaurids that lived around Saurophaganax were lmao

Yangchuanosauros Magnus was just as big if not bigger than saurophagnax. 36ft 3-5 tons.

Well done.