Saurophaganax (sore-oh-fag-an-acks) was a genus of Allosaurid predatory dinosaur that lived in what became the Jurassic Morrison Formation.
Characteristics[]
Length estimates range from 10.5 to 13 meters. At its head, Saurophaganax would have been around 4 meters tall. It's mass estimates range from 3,000 to 4,500 kg.
The living creature[]
Saurophaganax is only known from fragmentary remains from the Morrison formation. This could be down to multiple factors. As the largest predator found in the formation, Saurophaganax likely needed large territories for themselves, similar to today's big cats. On the other hand, the medium sized Allosaurus, which is the most common carnivore found in the Morrison formation, required less food to sustain itself and therefore could coexist more easily with it's own kind.
Importance[]
There is an ongoing scientific debate over the validity of the Saurophaganax genus, specifically whether or not it is actually a species of Allosaurus. If it is in fact a species of Allosaurus, it would be the largest known species, with a length 2 and 5 meters longer than an average Allosaurus fragilis, the most common species of Allosaurus. However, the most recent studies tend to classify Saurophaganax as a separate genus, pointing to differences in the vertebrae among other factors.