Dinosaurs » A-Z Dinosaurs List » Acrocanthosaurus Dinosaur

Acrocanthosaurus Dinosaur(ack-row-CAN-tho-SORE-us) was a very huge member of the Allosauridae family. It may stand for an evolutionary link between the Late Jurassic Allosaurus and the gigantic Late Cretaceous Carcharodontosaurus. It is about 40 feet (12 meters) long and 13 feet (4 meters) tall. The only described species to date is Atokensis a branch of Allosauroidea, the group which included Allosauridae, Sinraptoridae, and Carcharodontosauridae along with basal allosaurids such as Monolophosaurus, Crylophosaurus and Fukuiraptor etc.

Acrocanthosaurus Dinosaur could be related with the Carcharodontosaurids or the Allosaurids but Allosauroiea was not related to the Tyrannosaur idea.

Acrocanthosaurus Dinosaur was noteworthy both for its size and for the low row of spines running along its back but the function of these spines were unknown. They may have acted as muscle anchors or they may have supported a sail of skin. Though Acrocanthosaurus had a sail, it was not a Spinosauroid.

J. Willis Stovall and Wann Langston Jr. named it in 1950. The name Acrocanthosaurus means "high spine lizard", from the Greek akros ("high"), akantha ("spine") and sauros ("lizard"). It belongs to the early Cretaceous of North America.