Eocarcharia and Kryptops
Illustration © T. Marshall

Eocarcharia and Kryptops lived 110 million years ago on Africa, alongside dinosaurs Nigersuarus, Suchomimus and the 40-foot-long SuperCroc. The fossils were discovered in the present-day nation of Niger in 2000 by a team led by Dr. Paul Sereno.

Illustration © C. Abraczinskas and P. Sereno

Eocarcharia dinops, or “fierce-eyed dawn shark” was named for its blade-shaped teeth and prominent bony eyebrow. The teeth were designed for disabling live prey and severing body parts.  Eocarcharia and its cousins (called carcharodontosaurids) gave rise to the largest predators on southern continents, matching or exceeding Tyrannosaurus in size. Sereno and team discovered the upper jaw bone and a half- dozen other bones of the skull and teeth. They also discovered vertebrae, limb bones and claws, but until a better skeleton is discovered cannot tell for sure if they belong to Eocarcharia.

Short-snouted Kryptops palaios, or “old hidden face,” was named for the horny covering that appears to have covered nearly all of its face. At about 25 feet in length, Kryptops was a voracious meat-eater and is related to another short-toothed predator Sereno’s team discovered in Niger, Rugops. Sereno and team discovered the upper jaw bone, vertebrae and ribs, and the pelvic girdle.

Sereno and coauthor paleontologist Stephen Brusatte of Bristol University say the new fossils give us a glimpse of an earlier stage in the evolution of the bizarre meat-eaters of Gondwana, the southern landmass.  “T. rex has become such a fixture of Cretaceous lore, most people don’t realize that no tyrannosaur ever set foot on a southern continent” said Sereno.  Instead, particularly distinctive meat-eaters arose, some of which bear no resemblance to the ‘tyrant king’ beyond their taste for fresh meat.