In 1924, two teeth were found in the Continental intercalaire of Algeria, showing what were at the time unique characteristics. These teeth were described by Depéret and Savornin (1925) as representing a new taxon, which they named "Megalosaurus saharicus" and later categorized in the subgenus "Dryptosaurus". Some years later, paleontologist Ernst Stromer described the remains of a partial skull and skeleton from Cenomanian aged rocks in the Bahariya Formation of Egypt (Stromer, 1931); originally excavated in 1914, the remains consisted of a partial skull, teeth, vertebrae, claw bones and assorted hip and leg bones. The teeth in this new finding matched the characteristics of those described by Depéret and Savornin, which led to Stromer conserving the species name "saharicus" but finding it necessary to erect a new genus for this species, "Carcharodontosaurus", for their strong resemblance to the teeth of "Carcharodon" (Great white shark).