Giganotosaurus carolinii skeletal reconstructions

NOTE: This reconstruction is outdated. See the newer one here.

Giganotosaurus carolinii ("Carol's giant southern reptile") is a species of giant theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, South America during the middle Cretaceous.

While I had to use parts of 's Giganotosaurus out of necessity since it was the only source of information for many portions of the skeleton, such as the measurements of the axial column and other parts that lack measurement figures, I went off of photographs of skeletal mounts, figures from the scientific literature, and measurements as much as I could.  I also used ' Giganotosaurus skeletal reconstruction as a very general basis.

The skull was restored based on Mapusaurus, Tyrannotitan, Carcharodontosaurus, and Acrocanthosaurus.

The shoulder girdle is reconstructed based on Mapusaurus (which barely helped, but it's incorporated here anyway) and Acrocanthosaurus, with the length of the scapula based on the scapula:femur ratio found in Acrocanthosaurus. The arms are based on Acrocanthosaurus aside from the radius, which is drawn based on that of Mapusaurus.

The metatarsals are based on Mapusaurus and Acrocanthosaurus, while the phalanges and the proportions of the feet are from Scott Hartman's reconstruction. The ilium is restored based on Mapusaurus.

The sternum and gastralia are generic theropod parts.

MUCPv-95 is scaled after Scott Hartman's best fit (+6.5% greater linear dimensions). If you prefer either the +2.2% or +8% figures, feel free to rescale the skeletal in your size charts, I wouldn't hold it against you.

Reconstructed dimensions

• MUCPv-ch1
• Hip height: ~3.57 metres
• Shoulder height: ~3.31 metres
• Back height: ~3.67 metres
• Total height: ~3.81 metres
• Standing length: ~12.12 metres
• Axial length: ~12.41 metres
• MUCPv-95
• Hip height: ~3.8 metres
• Shoulder height: ~3.53 metres
• Back height: ~3.91 metres
• Total height: ~4.06 metres
• Standing length: ~12.91 metres
• Axial length: ~13.22 metres

References

• Coria and Salgado, 1995, "A new giant carnivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Patagonia"
• Calvo and Coria, 1998, "New specimen of Giganotosaurus carolinii (Coria & Salgado, 1995), supports it as the largest theropod ever found"
• Coria and Currie, 2003, "The braincase of Giganotosaurus carolinii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina"
• Sereno et al., 1996, "Predatory dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous faunal differentiation"
• Calvo, 1999, "Dinosaurs and other vertebrates of the lake Ezequel-Ramos Mexia area, Neuquen - Patagonia, Argentina"
• Carpenter, 2000, "A new specimen of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of Oklahoma, USA"
• Coria and Currie, 2006, "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina"
• Eddy and Clarke, 2011, "New information on the cranial anatomy of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis and its implications for the phylogeny of Allosauroidea (Dinosauria: Theropoda)"
• Canale et al, 2013, "Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Tyrannotitan chubutensis Novas, de Valais, Vickers-Rich and Rich, 2005 (Theropoda: Carcharodontosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina"
• Theropod Database - Giganotosaurus
• Scott Hartman's skeletal reconstruction
• Franoys' skeletal reconstruction
• GetAwayTrike's skeletal reconstructions
• Giganotosaurus holotype cranial elements photo
• Giganotosaurus mounted skeleton photo 1
• Giganotosaurus mounted skeleton photo 2

Update log

• 4/18/2017: Fixed the articulation of the femur and acetabulum. This had the effect of lowering the overall height by about ~4-5 centimetres.
• 1/24/2018: Remade the skull, added detail, adjusted fibula length, and reposed. See the previous version here for comparison.
• 3/19/2018: Added furculae, some tweaks to silhouette, teeth and scalebar updated to my new conventions.
• 5/4/2019: Revamped and redrew certain portions of the skeleton based on higher-resolution photographs. See the previous version here for comparison.
• 9/1/2020: Tweaked the snout after a closer look at the photo of the type skull material.
• 5/23/2021: Tweaked facial details based on better quality figures and photographs, which show that Giganotosaurus has a roughened texture of grooves and ridges on its maxillary surface.
• 11/13/2021: Changed from a 9-cervical/14-dorsal to a more standard tetanuran 10-cervical/13-dorsal configuration, as well as some other small tweaks (mainly a bit more muscle on the top of the neck).