Roughly 99–65 million years old

It's still crazy to us that something this old can still be so sharp. We're not kidding when we say the edges of this massive tooth still feels like a steak knife. More mind boggling, Carcharodontosaurus had a five foot mouth full of these. 

Carcharodontosaurus (meaning "shark toothed lizard") was one of the largest theropod carnivores alongside Saurophaganax and Bahariasaurus. With this impressive mouth full of flesh rending teeth, It’s pretty obvious that it was a carnivore. Each tooth could reach up to 8in and the Carcharodontosaurus had plenty of them. It had a large head with over 60 blade-like teeth, which were designed to pierce and tear apart the flesh of its prey, which may have consisted of dinosaurs such as juvenile sauropods, or iguanodontids. By studying its fossil remains, scientists have estimated that it could sprint up to 18 miles per hour. While that doesn’t seem super fast, you have to remember that they weighed up to 3 tons. That’s a lot of dinosaur jogging at you. Given its speed, Carcharodontosaurus was likely an opportunistic predator and a scavenger, like the vast majority of modern carnivores today. 

Carcharodontosaurus fossils were first found by Charles Depéret and J. Savornin in North America in 1756. Originally called Megalosaurus saharicus, its name was changed in 1831 by Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach to that used today. These first fossils of Carcharodontosaurus were destroyed during World War II In an allied fighter bombing raid which destroyed the museum. Sadly, every last piece of the first Carcharodontosaurus fossil remains were destroyed. However, cranial material from a Carcharodontosaurus was again discovered in North Africa in 1914 which led to the nickname "African T-rex". In comparison though, Carcharodontosaurus was actually slightly larger than the T-rex according to modern estimates. Speaking of Africa, Carcharodontosaurus lived in a very different Africa compared to its modern day environment. It was likely very warm and humid, with many rivers and lakes flowing through, considering Spinosaurus has been found in the same location. Its area of habitation ( Middle to late cretaceous North Africa) is commonly described as the most dangerous place on earth by many Paleontologists. As the whole ecosystem itself had an immense abundance of carnivores. Living in a place like that, it’s no wonder that Carcharodontosaurus sported a mouth full of these impressive and terrifying teeth. 

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