In the Late Cretaceous, the region of South America that would one day become modern Argentina was a dramatic land indeed. Teeming with dinosaur life, the Candeleros Formation - located in what is now Patagonia - is famous for its particularly large paleofauna. Huge sauropods towered across the forested swamps and floodplains, whilst azhdarchid pterosaurs - relatives of the colossal Quetzalcoatlus - soared overhead. Large herds of iguanodontian dinosaurs wandered through the woods, whilst abelisaurs - relatives of the well known Carnotaurus - stalked them from the shadows. With so many large dinosaurs around, a position for a colossal apex predator was open for the taking - and who would come along and take it but a Carcharodontosaur?
Carcharodontosaurs and their relatives were some of the largest and most fearsome predatory theropod dinosaurs of the entire Mesozoic Era, and the dinosaur in question today - Giganotosaurus - was one of the most iconic. For three and a half million years across the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, Giganotosaurus was the quintessential apex predator of ancient South America, perhaps one of the largest terrestrial carnivores ever to live.
Today, we will be breaking down the key aspects of this marvel of evolution's existence, exploring how it evolved, lived, hunted and, eventually, how it was discovered almost one hundred million years after its eventual extinction, by modern paleontologists. Sit back and relax as we take you back to the age of dinosaurs to meet Giganotosaurus - one of the largest apex predators ever to walk the earth.
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