

Re: Giganotosaurus and Epanterias

In a message dated 96-08-11 21:08:03 EDT, se1aard@itis.com (Seth Ellestad)

> I thought when I first saw photographs, that superficially at least
> Afrovenator ("Little A") looked a lot like a less derived, smaller,
> earlier relative (? ancestor?) of "Big C".  Similar skull/jaw
> structure particularly, kinda "snaggletoothed" as well, not unlike
> the shark-toothed "Big C". What do you think, "Dinogeorge"?  How
> close is it related, if at all?

At this point, having seen all the recently published papers on
_Afrovenator_, _Carcharodontosaurus_, and _Giganotosaurus_, I'd say they're
likely more closely related to one another than to other large theropods and
thus form a real carnosaurian/allosauroid family. And _Deltadromeus_ seems to
be outside this family. But nothing like comprehensive osteological
descriptions of these taxa have yet been published, so the final word, based
on presently known remains, must still be "maybe."