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NOTE: The images seen here aren't official design for this canon's version of Giganotosaurus but rather serve as inspirations for the final design!!!!
Giganotosaurus (meaning "giant southern lizard" or "giant southern reptile") or "Giga" for short , is a genus of theropod that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous period. It is currently one of the largest known meat-eating dinosaurs and the largest species of allosauroid to ever exist. For many years Tyrannosaurus held that record, although bits and pieces of Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus showed that they possibly could rival the giant coelurosaur in size. Then, in the late 1980s into the early 1990s, Argentine paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado discovered and revealed the existence of a new meat-eater bigger than any known tyrant lizard. They named the giant dinosaur Giganotosaurus carolini.
When Giganotosaurus was alive, the most common herbivores found in South America were the sauropods such as Andesaurus, Limaysaurus and Nopcaspondylus. Although it had to share it's ecosystem with carnivores such as Ekrixinatosaurus, Buitreraptor and Alnashetri, this animal was the sole apex predator of it's area. They roamed South America between 99-95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period untill their extinction.
Giganotosaurus carolinii[]
To learn more about the prehistoric animal, check here.
Giganotosaurus ultimus[]
Genetic makeup[]
The genetic makeup of Giganotosaurus ultimus:
- Giganotosaurus carolinii (base genome)
- Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
- Monitor lizard (Varanus)
- Emu (Dromaius)
- Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)
A concept of JCS Giganotosaurus skull (art made by Pangea Papercraft)
Biology[]
Physical Attributes[]
Giganotosaurus ultimus (meaning: "ultimate giant southern lizard"), formerly known as Giganotosaurus biosynensis ultimus (meaning: "BioSyn's ultimate giant southern lizard") is among the very largest theropods, and by some estimates it is the second biggest terrestrial carnivore to have ever lived, only being beaten by Spinosaurus sorkini robustus and the hypohetical size of a fully-grown Indominus rex. Despite being mostly designed to look closer to it's prehistoric ancestor, BioSyn's clones far surpass their ancestors in sheer size, with most adult individuals being most 15 meters long, at the height of 6 meters, weighing about 10 tons.
Like all carcharodontosaurids, Giganotosaurus is characterized by a very large skull, with fossils measuring 5.0 to 6.4 feet (1.53 to 1.95 meters) long. The jaws are armed with large, serrated teeth. Mature specimens possess about 76 teeth, some of which can be nearly as long as a human head. Its tongue is pinkish and pointed, though unable to extend out of the jaws. The mouth has a wide gape, and its lower jaw ends in a flat square structure that resembles a chin, often being humorously referred to as the "chad chin." On the other hand, G. ultimus has much more pronounced set of lacrimal crests; these are ridge-like, grooved rugose projections that rise up from the lacrimal bones and point toward the eyes, somewhat similar to those of its smaller Jurassic relative Allosaurus. These make its already huge skull look bigger when viewed from the side, and give it an intimidating profile when viewed from the front. Unlike many theropods, its skull lacks a sagittal crest; instead its skull roof forms a kind of shelf. The jaw muscles attach to the side of the shelf, rather than atop the sagittal crest like in other theropods. Its bite force is not as great as Tyrannosaurus, but is strongest near the front of its jaw; rather than crushing bone, the jaws of Giganotosaurus are built for delivering a powerful flesh-rending bite.
A concept of the Giganotosaurus
Though its skull is large, it is lightweight for its size due to the presence of fenestrae, or natural holes, in the bone. All theropods have these, but they are quite noticeable in carcharodontosaurs due to the sheer scale of the head. BioSyn's Giganotosaurus seem to possess bird-like pupils and dark sclerae. It has binocular vision, like most active predators, as well as a good sense of smell. The sclerae of its eyes are bright yellow, and the eyeballs overall are quite large, nearly a foot in diameter. Giganotosaurus has a braincase one inch long and three inches wide; though not very big, this is still larger than that of its relative Carcharodontosaurus.
Prominent bones above its eyes serve as anchor points for the powerful muscles of its neck, which help it to raise its massive head. Its axis bone, which attaches its skull to its spine, is also very strong. The animal's back is mostly covered in almost crocodilian scales and scutes beginning on the skull and continuing part of the way down the tail. They do not contain any bone, and though they do provide some amount of armor, they are chiefly a display structure that make the dinosaur look more intimidating. Although its arms are longer than those of tyrannosaurs and possess three clawed fingers on each hand, its arms are still not especially strong, and its shoulder girdles are smaller than a tyrannosaur’s. Its body on the whole has a slightly narrower frame than Tyrannosaurus, though not by much.
The legs of Giganotosaurus are powerful and fairly long, ending in huge three-toed feet, each toe bearing a large talon. A fourth innermost toe is a vestigial dewclaw. At a full sprint, Giganotosaurus can attain speeds of thirty miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour), making it one of the fastest large theropods; its talons help it gain purchase on the ground when it runs. However, like other animals its size, it cannot run for very long at all due to the strain this puts on its skeleton. It normally moves at a slower pace, putting on a burst of speed when it needs to make an attack. It seldom sprints, as there is little for it to ever run away from, and it can walk faster than many of its prey items can run thanks to its long legs. To counterbalance its upper body while in motion, it has a thick tail, which is fairly flexible and rather heavy. Its tail is sometimes deliberately dragged across the ground when establishing territory, suggesting that it might have pheromone glands in this area of its body. It is homeothermic like other theropods, maintaining an internal body temperature. Heat distribution is similar to that of a tyrannosaur.
Sexual dimorphism[]
In terms of coloration, this animal is not extremely vibrant, but has distinct patterning with the two sexes having different coloration. Males are primarily bluish purple on the top and with yellow on their bellies, with some of their faces being yellow as well, females are primarily greyish brown similar to some of InGen's female Tyrannosaurs. Interestingly, males have reddish eyes while females have yellow yes.
Growth[]
Much like their ancestors, Giganotosaurus has a metabolism comparable to a carnivorous mammal roughly an eighth of its own size, therefore allowing it to grow quickly. However, the growth rates of carcharodontosaurs were generally slower than that of Tyrannosaurus, though some South American carcharodontosaurs are estimated to have a lifespan of about fifty years, making them longer-lived than tyrannosaurs. However, InGen's Tyrannosaurs were confirmed to live to fifty years, whether BioSyn implemented a similar trait of expanding the lifespan of their Giganotosaurus clones is unkown. It was stated that much like Tyrannosaurus rex maximus hammondi, BioSyn's first generation of Giganotosaurus ultimus reahced full maturity by the age of 10.
Preferred Habitat[]
Giganotosaurus prefers to live near sources of fresh water, such as rivers, lakes, and swamps. It does equally well in forest and grassland environments, though each of these environment types provides a different advantage: forests are ideal for ambushing prey, but open plains are often home to much bigger prey, and resources are otherwise easier to spot at a distance. Regardless of its environment, water seems to be one of the most important features in its habitat, like in the prehistoric ancestors. Giganotosaurus are never found far from fresh water, one of the most vital resources for any animal, and they are at their most territorial in wet environments.
Behaivor and Ecology[]
Activity Patterns[]
A Giganotosaurus facing off against a Tyrannosaurus
Giganotosaurus ultimus, at least, appears to be primarily cathermal or nocturnal. It is active intermittently during the daytime, but spends most of its daylight hours resting and only rouses when it needs something. Feeding during the day is usually scavenging more than active hunting, though it will engage in territorial behavior if pressed. At night, though, its behavior changes: it becomes more active and aggressive, and rests infrequently. During the nighttime it will hunt down food and attack live prey, and patrol its territory in search of potential threats rather than just respond to things in its immediate vicinity. In the morning it settles down to rest.
It is not known whether similar behaviors would be seen in Giganotosaurus carolinii (the older species). Many animals that live in arid environments will rest during the heat of the day and come out at night when it is cooler, but whether the Kokorkom environment was hot enough to encourage this is unclear.
Diet and Feeding Behaivor[]
Giganotosaurus is a carnivore and an apex predator with a strong sense of smell and good vision. The ancestral species, G. carolinii, lived alongside some of the biggest animals ever to live on land, including sauropods that could reach lengths of more than a hundred feet and weigh nearly ninety short tons. Some carcharodontosaurs, including its close relative Mapusaurus, are known to have formed coalitions or worked with their family members to cooperatively mob these gargantuan creatures and even bring them down, using their blunt chins to resist tensile stress upon landing a hit and making good use of their strong jaws to tear through flesh. Unlike tyrannosaurs, the jaws of carcharodontosaurs like Giganotosaurus are designed for speed rather than crushing power; they latch on with dagger-like teeth and rend meat from bone with alarming rapidity, killing small prey in moments and leaving larger victims to bleed out. The front part of the jaws are stronger than the rear, so it would capture prey with its front teeth and then use its hind teeth for ripping and shredding. Unlike tyrannosaurs, which have evolved to contend with armored prey, Giganotosaurus often feeds on animals with dense musculature, so a lacerating bite is more efficient than a bone-crushing one.
The Giga of the BioSyn Incident chasing after Dr. Alan Grant and Owen Grady
While Giganotosaurus ultimus, much like it's prehistoric ancestors, preys on juvenile sauropods and sometimes teamed up to bring down adults, however it does not shy away from different kinds of prey animals such as hardosaurs, iguanodonts and sometimes smaller theropods or other smaller creatures. It is not just a predator of megafauna, but has been known to regularly target human-sized creatures. While its muscles are still powerful, it is specialized further into swift and precise bites, having migrated north where there were fewer sauropods but abundant hadrosaurs. All the same, in the modern day it is hardly picky about its diet; it chiefly hunts by ambush, sneaking up on its prey from the cover of a forest and then putting on a burst of speed to grab and wound or kill its victim before the prey can escape. Giganotosaurus is durable thanks to its size, so it can stand and fight if it happens to target a more tenacious food source. It mainly hunts in the early hours of the night, and like many predators it might also hunt at dawn. As the ambient light increases or decreases, animals must adjust their vision, which can leave them vulnerable to predators like Giganotosaurus that can acclimate faster.
Social Behaivor[]
For the most part, Giganotosaurus appears to be a solitary creature, befitting an animal its size. It needs huge amounts of food to sustain itself, and generally it is unwilling to share with potential competitors, even of its own kind. While it does have display features, they do not seem to be social in nature; the tall scales on its dorsal ridge make it look larger than it really is, which would help it intimidate rivals. Its coloration is mostly subdued, better suited for camouflage in woodland than showing off to its own species.
However, there is evidence that this animal might sometimes willingly come into close quarters with members of its own species: ancestrally it preyed upon sauropods, the largest animals ever to walk on land. But these behemoth herbivores were far too large for a single Giganotosaurus to bring down without extreme risk of death; a single well-placed stomp could end the life of any predator in an instant. By collaborating, even if temporarily, they could deliver numerous slicing bites deep into the muscle of their prey while reducing the risk to each individual theropod in the battle. Eventually, through persistence, the coalition could weaken their titanic opponents through blood loss, rendering them vulnerable.
Reproduction[]
As a general rule, dinosaurs are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs to reproduce. Theropod eggs on the whole are ovular in shape, which ensures they can be laid in a nest without any worry of rolling away. Its courtship process is unknown but may involve cues that play to the dinosaur’s strongest senses, vision and smell. One can imagine a male with more visible display features such as ridges and dorsal spines being more attractive to a female, since he would have greater capacity to intimidate a foe.
Larger dinosaurs typically have longer incubation periods since their eggs are usually bigger and therefore take longer for the embryo to develop, sometimes lasting a few months in big theropods. As a very large dinosaur, Giganotosaurus must nest on the ground, and it likely uses its great physical strength and intimidating presence to defend against egg-eating predators. It is not known how many eggs it lays, or what the infant mortality rate is like. Many species of dinosaur mate for life, or at least maintain long-term pair bonds. This is especially common among theropods, but the standard for carcharodontosaurian families is not well understood. Both parents cooperatively take part in raising offsprings, with younger individuals learning many things from their elders.
Communication[]
As such a big animal, it needs to maintain a large territory in order to ensure it has access to all the resources it requires for survival, and so much of its communication is confrontational in nature. It uses various loud bellows, similar to an alligator’s, to warn away rivals and assert its dominance, these vocalizations being intermixed with low-pitched whinnies and throaty growls.
Along with vocalization, body language is significant to this dinosaur. When confronting an enemy, it will turn its body to the side, showing off its tall dorsal scales and enhancing its intimidating profile. As with many theropods, it will also gape its jaw at enemies, showing off the sheer size of its mouth and the numerous lethal teeth that line it. When confronting territorial rivals and establishing dominance, it will often strike the ground with its heavy tail, or drag the tail along the dirt. This makes a distinct noise and shows off the theropod’s muscles, though it is also possible that, like some reptiles and birds, pheromones are released during these displays which mark its territory using scent and other chemical signals.
When it is not aggressive, it will solicit small scavengers to clean bits of meat from its teeth. To do so, it will lie down, a position in which it already finds itself for much of the day, and open its mouth (not so wide as to be a jaw gape, which is a sign of aggression, and keeping its lower jaw on or near the ground). It may emit small rumbles or gently thump its tail to communicate. If it needs any attendant scavengers to move away, for example when it needs to get up, it uses a slightly louder grumble and lifts its head slowly, ensuring that it does not crush its smaller companions.