Rugops: The Giant You Thought Was Small
According to new research on the skull of Carcharodontosaurus iguadensius, the skull is composed of bone fragments from more than one animal, making it a chimera. The upper skull pieces are very likely a Carcharodontosaurus', but the lower jaw piece belongs to Rugops.... Making Rugops above, and I stress ABOVE, 12 meters or 40 feet if the scaling is correct.
Rugops had a somewhat small skull, and this, by no means, was a small piece.
The upper skull piece probably belongs to a new species of Carcharodontosaurus (iguadensius), but the lower jaw belongs to Rugops or a very closely related abelisaur.
So this makes Rugops Ekrixinatosaurus' African counterpart as Carcharodontosaurus is to Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus is to Oxalaia.
But Rugops had a weak bite, dull teeth and a modest build, unlike Ekrixinatosaurus and was overall more likely a scavenger...
So why was it so big? Does the strangely Rugops-like fragment belong to Rugops? A larger dinosaur? What do you think about C. iguadensius?
[img]http://0.tqn.com/d/dinosaurs/1/0/q/Q/-/-/rugopsSK.jpg[/img]
Future Team Raptor member









