Discover the World’s Oldest Megaraptorid and Australia’s First Carcharodontosaur Fossils: A Breakthrough in Paleontology!

Exciting news from Australia: paleontologists have discovered five new theropod fossils from the Cretaceous period, including two specimens of carcharodontosaurs.

The landscape of Cretaceous Australia. Image credit: Jonathan Metzger / Museums Victoria.

This discovery marks the first time carcharodontosaurs have been found in Australia. The fossils are from the Strzelecki Group, dating back around 121 to 118 million years, and the Eumeralla Formation, which is about 113 to 108 million years old.

According to Jake Kotevski, a Ph.D. student at Museums Victoria, these carcharodontosaurs ranged from 2 to 4 meters long. This find is key to understanding how well Australia’s predators adapted differently than those in South America, where carcharodontosaurs could grow as large as 13 meters, surpassing even the size of Tyrannosaurus rex.

In addition to the carcharodontosaurs, two megaraptorid fossils were also uncovered in the Strzelecki Group. These megaraptorids were already sizable, measuring around 6 to 7 meters long when they first appeared. This shows that these large dinosaurs thrived even in colder regions.

Kotevski noted that two of the megaraptorid specimens are the oldest of their kind discovered worldwide. This finding helps fill in important gaps regarding the evolution of these dinosaurs and suggests that Australia played a crucial role in the ecosystems of Gondwana, the ancient landmass that included present-day Australia, South America, and Antarctica.

Dr. Thomas Rich, a senior curator at Museums Victoria, highlighted that these discoveries enhance our knowledge of Australia’s unique dinosaur history. He emphasized that they challenge earlier ideas about how predator sizes were organized in ancient ecosystems.

The research team continues to explore important fossil sites. Their efforts are part of the ongoing Dinosaur Dreaming project, which has already yielded over 10,000 fossil bones and teeth since it began.

A detailed study of these findings was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, shedding light on the exciting insights gained from these ancient puzzles.

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Jake Kotevski et al. Evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of new carcharodontosaurian, megaraptorid, and unenlagiine theropod remains from the upper Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, southeast Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online February 19, 2025; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2441903