When it comes to Jurassic's most powerful predator, I believe that the first reaction of many friends is Allosaurus. Indeed, Allosaurus was a very good killer of the Jurassic. However, when the ferocious Allosaurus encounters a really fierce character, it can only hold its head, and this fierce character is the real king of Jura, whose name is Torvosaurus.
Barbarian family
Illustration: Known parts of Tannosaurus as well as skeletal reconstruction, drawn by Scottharman
In 1972, James A. Jensen and Kenneth Stadtman discovered fossils of the Savageosaurus at the Dry Mesa Quarry in Colorado, and they recounted the fossils in the same year and named them Savageosaurus. The model name of the savage dragon is Torvosaurus tanneri, the genus name means "savage lizard" in Greek, and the species name is in honor of Nathan Eldon Tanner, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The orthodontic specimens of the Savageosaurus include humerus, ulna, and radius, while other specimens are partial skulls, tail vertebrae, pubic bones, ischial bones, and forelimb bones. The specimens belonged to at least three distinct individuals, two adults and one juvenile.
Note: Partial fossils of Gerstadiosaurus, image from Wikipedia
It's not just in North America, but in 2006 there were also fossil specimens of the bruteosaur found in Portugal, when fossils were thought to also belong to the model species of bruteosaur. After recent studies, paleontologists have found that there is some difference between the Portuguese dragon and the North American dragon, so in 2014 the paleontologists named the Portuguese specimen of the dragon as a new species of the genus Torvosaurus gurneyi, which is dedicated to james Gurney, an artist who has been active in the field of paleontological art for many years.
Photo note: Artist James Gnayer, his masterpiece is "Dinosaur Fantasy Country", the picture comes from the Internet
In 1992, a very large carnivorous dinosaur was discovered in Wyoming, USA, and the famous paleontologist Robert T. Bakker named it King Edmarkarex, but the species is now considered a synonym for Tannosaurus.
Illustration: Restoration of Eder marlon, drawn by Sergey Krasovskiy
Almighty Killer
The stettle belonged to the Megalodon superfamily (Megalosauridae) under the genus " , and was closely related to the first dinosaur , Megalosaurus , the first named dinosaur. Megalodons have many members of the superfamily , such as the famous Spinosaurus family , " Ornitosaurus " , " Ornitosaurus " , and " African " . The size of this large family is also uneven, the largest body length can exceed 15 meters, and the smaller members are only more than 4 meters long.
Illustration: Some members of the Megalodon superfamily, scottharman drew
The bruteosaur was larger, with most of the specimens measuring between 9 and 10 meters in length, but some specimens from North America, such as "Edelmalong", could reach 12 meters in length and weigh more than 7 tons, which was comparable to some small individual tyrannosaurs. In the early years, the European Gerstosaurus (number ML110) estimated that its skull length could reach 158 cm, and the total length could reach more than 13 meters, which was larger than that of north American brutes. Recent studies have shown that Gerstosaurus was not as large as previously estimated, but it could still reach 11-12 meters in length, which was the big brother in Jurassic Europe. All in all, the brute dragon is the big man among the carnivorous dinosaurs.
Illustration: Some large individuals of the barbarian dragon specimens, the picture is from the network
At first glance, the brute dragon looks mediocre and does not stand out in particular. However, a closer look reveals that the Brute Dragon is unique. The brute dragon has a "horse face", its skull is low, the sides look a little narrow, and its skull is very strong. The most obvious feature of the brute dragon is the huge teeth in the mouth, and it can even be said that the brute dragon is the carnivorous dinosaur with the largest proportion of teeth. The tooth form of the savage dragon is between that of tyrannosaurus and allosaurus, both like the thick teeth of tyrannosaurus rex like bananas, and on the edges of the teeth, there are allosaurus serrated teeth like steak knives. The mouth of the savage dragon could be opened wide, and with a solid skull and strong teeth, it could crush the bones of its prey like a tyrannosaur and prey on larger dinosaurs.
Note: The teeth of a barbarian dragon, image from Wikipedia
Picture note: The huge skull of the barbarian dragon, the picture comes from the network
Illustration: The brute dragon head bone in the museum can be seen with its very large teeth. Image from the web
Picture Note: Compared with the skulls of The Dragon of the High Ridge (left) and the Dragon of the Wild Dragon (right), it can be seen that the skull of the Dragon is relatively strong, and the picture comes from the Internet
The pubic bone of the brute dragon is shorter, so the body cavity is not very high, and the entire body is barrel-shaped. The tail of the brute dragon has a high arc of veins and can attach a large number of tail muscles, and its tail muscles are the key to providing the dinosaur with athletic ability, and the strong tail muscles show that the brute dragon has excellent athletic ability, compared to other carnivorous dinosaurs of the same size, which has an advantage in speed.
Picture note: The skeleton of the barbarian dragon is mounted, the picture comes from the network
While continuously strengthening the ability to attack the head, large carnivorous dinosaurs always come at the cost of weakening the size and grasping ability of the forelimbs, which is why the forelimbs of giant carnivorous dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and high-ridged dinosaurs are short. The brute dragon is a special case, not only has a strong and thick skull, but also has a thick arm with three hooked claws, although its forelimbs are less lethal than the mouth, but the forelimbs can also provide more assistance in fighting or hunting.
Picture note: The giant claws of the barbarian dragon. Image from Wikipedia
The brute dragon's body is strong, the whole body is a large killer, almost fused with the advantages of various large carnivorous dinosaurs, can be described as an all-round offensive killer.
King of Jurassic
The savage dragon lived from the Late Jurassic 150-148 million years ago, and it was distributed in Europe and North America, and the habitats of the two continents were very rich in species resources for the barbarians to enjoy.
The fossils of the Savage Dragon in North America are from the famous Morrison Formation formation, which has many well-known species, such as sauropods, brachiosaurus, confused dragons, thunderstorms, domed dragons; armored stegosaurs, west dragons, maimor ankylosaurs; small ornithischians oakosaurs, curved dragons; small theropods, virtual bone dragons; large theropods, lizard-eating dragons, horned-nosed dragons and so on.
Image note: The main species of the Morrison Group, picture from the network
Illustration: North American brutes and fruitadens, drawn by James Kuether
European specimens of the Savage dragon come from the Lourinhã Formation formation, which has some of the same species as the Morrison formation in North America, such as Allosaurus, Horned-nosedOsaurus, OakOsaurus, etc. In addition, there are some species unique to the Lurianyayan formation, such as Miragaia. If you've seen the documentary Dinosaur Revolution, the second episode of the story takes place in the Lulian Yayan group.
Illustration: Miraga Aaron, drawn by Davide Bonadonna
The Savage Dragon was undoubtedly the king of the Jurassic, and with the exception of some extremely large sauropods, most of the dinosaurs it could see were potential food. Although Allosaurus is also an excellent killer, the average Allosaurus of about 2 tons can only be abused in front of 4-5 tons of ordinary individual barbarians, and we do not consider the huge individuals of barbarians. The relationship between pygmyosaurs and pygmyosaurs is similar to that of lions and spotted hyenas in the African savannah today, in that they each act as predators of different hierarchies and intersect in part. Alloosaurus will not go to the trouble of the barbarian dragon, otherwise the end will be like the Allosaurus in "Dinosaur Revolution" and be beaten by the barbarian dragon fat, looking for teeth on the ground.
Photo note: The image of the savage dragon in "Dinosaur Revolution", the picture comes from the Internet
Picture note: Brute Dragon Pain Flat Allosaurus, screenshot from "Dinosaur Revolution"
Note: The barbarian and allosaurs have a significant difference in body shape. Screenshot from Dinosaur Revolution
Although Allosaurus could not compete with the Barbarian Dragon, there were other, more powerful predators during the same period. Saurophaganax and Epanterias have a body shape similar to those of the Savage Dragon, and are a greater threat to the Savageosaurus than the Allosaurus. The Barbarian Dragon is better equipped, so it still has the upper hand when it comes to clashing with giant carnivorous dinosaurs such as the similarly sized Lizard King Dragon. In fact, combat effectiveness is not the key to survival, the essence of survival is how to quickly adapt to the current environment, in the changeable natural world to find a way out of life.
Caption: Lizard-eating dragon (left) and Allosaurus (right), drawn by James Kuether
Illustration: The Barbarian Dragon Restoration, drawn by Frank-Lode
The Barbarian Dragon was not the last survivor, and with the end of the Jurassic Period, the Family of the Barbarian Dragon gradually disappeared, and they were gradually replaced by the Allosaurus superfamily. Nature is so cruel, even if you were the monarch of the times yesterday, you may be buried in the long river of time forever in the blink of an eye.
Resources:
1.Hendrickx, C.; Mateus, O.V. (2014). Evans, Alistair Robert, ed. "Torvosaurus gurneyi n. sp., the Largest Terrestrial Predator from Europe, and a Proposed Terminology of the Maxilla Anatomy in Nonavian Theropods". PLoS ONE. 9 (3): e88905. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088905. PMC 3943790Freely accessible. PMID 24598585.
2.Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-910207-4.
3.P. M. Galton and J. A. Jensen. 1979. A new large theropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado. Brigham Young University Geology Studies 26(1):1-12
4.Jensen, J.A., 1985, "Uncompahgre dinosaur fauna: A preliminary report", Great Basin Naturalist, 45: 710-720
5.Britt, B., 1991, "Theropods of Dry Mesa Quarry (Morrison Formation, Late Jurassic), Colorado, with emphasis on the osteology of Torvosaurus tanneri", Brigham Young University Geology Studies 37: 1-72
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The article is from the "Little Dragon Robber Takes You to Invade the Prehistoric World" WeChat public account (ID: raptor 1984) "Who is the real King of Jurassic?" " article, author: Jiang's little thief dragon.