Giganotosaurus

Giganotosaurus ("giant southern lizard") is currently one of the the largest known meat-eating dinosaur ever. For many years Tyrannosaurus held that record (although bits and pieces of Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus showed that they were as large as any individual T. rex). Then, in 1995, paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado reported the discovery of a new meat-eater bigger that any tyrant lizard. They named the giant dinosaur, ''Giganotosaurus carolini. ''

Bone for bone, it was larger than the largest skeleton of T. rex ever found! The skull alone was 6 feet (1.8 m) long! What's more, a lower jaw bone was later found from an individual even bigger than the first one - with a skull perhaps 6.5 feet (2 m) long. Clearly, Giganotosaurus was a gigantic dinosaur.

When Giganotosaurus was alive, the most common plant-eaters in South America were the Titanosaur sauropods. While a single Giganotosaurus could kill a young Titanosaur, it would take many Giganotosaurus to bring down a giant adult. At present, there is no evidence that Giganotosaurus hunted in groups, but a recent discovery from slightly younger rocks shows that the descendant of Giganotosaurus (now named Mapusaurus) may have lived in packs.

More real-life information: Giganotosaurus on Wikipedia.

Jurassic Park Franchise
Giganotosaurus has not appeared in any of the Jurassic Park novels or films, but has been featured in some video games. It appeared also on the covers of Jurassic Park: Redemption comic books.

Jurassic Park inspired games

 * It was also featured on the raptor's gallery on the PSX/Saturn The Lost World: Jurassic Park game. Apparently it was cut from the game in favor for the T. rex and the Allosaurus.
 * The Giganotosaurus appeared in the game Warpath: Jurassic Park. It got mistyped as Giganotasaurus, and it's codenamed as Giga. It has 3 colors: blue, brown, and white red. The Giganotosaurus shares a similar battle style with Carcharodontosaurus and Albertosaurus.


 * Giganotosaurus is one of the Carnivores Ones that can be created in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.
 * The Carcharodontosaurus in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis looks sort of like a Giganotosaurus. However, it may only be a resemblance because they are of the same family group. Note if the game is modded in PC it is possible to make a Giganotosaurus.

Comics
Giganotosaurus was also on the covers of Jurassic Park: Redemption IV and V, in V it was attacked by a Mosasaurus and a pack of Velociraptors.