Genus
Valid Extinct

Acrocanthosaurus

Stovall and Langston 1950
Etymology Reptile épineux

Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaurs that existed in what is now North America during the Barremian and early Cenomanian stages of the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous, from 125 to 99.6 million years ago. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. It had a continent-wide range, with fossil remains known from the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming in the west and Maryland in the east. However, most of these remains are assigned to the species based on the assumption that Acrocanthosaurus is the only large carcharodontosaurid from North America during this time, and the possibility exists that some referred specimens could represent distinct taxa.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
14
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Acrocanthosaurus
click to enlarge
Mounted skeleton of Acrocanthosaurus specimen NCSM 14345 at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences © Famille Wielosz-Caron · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia
Acrocanthosaurus
Acrocanthosaurus
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Allosauroidea Superfamily
Carcharodontosauridae Family
Acrocanthosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
11,5 m
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
11,5 m
Mass
5 800 kg
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Fossil sites 14 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
14
Geological formations
Antlers
5
Twin Mountains
1
Holly Creek
1
Turney Ranch
1
Temporal distribution
Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)
1
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
6
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
7
Species (1)
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis 121 Ma
Images 7
Bibliography
Original description
J. W. Stovall and W. Langston, Jr. 1950. Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, a new genus and species of Lower Cretaceous Theropoda from Oklahoma. American Midland Naturalist 43(4):686-728 DOI ↗
Bibliography (11)
T. Oswald and C. Boisvert. 2025. “Here be dragons”: shed teeth potentially Indicate the presence of multiple unidentified allosauroids from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 50(2):55–129 DOI ↗
M. T. Carrano. 2024. First definitive record of Acrocanthosaurus (Theropoda: Carcharodontosauridae) in the Lower Cretaceous of eastern North America. Cretaceous Research 157(78):105814 DOI ↗
C. A. Suarez, J. Frederickson, and R. L. Cifelli, J. G. Pittman, R. l. Nydam, R. K. Hunt-Foster, K. Morgan. 2021. A new vertebrate fauna from the Lower Cretaceous Holly Creek Formation of the Trinity Group, southwest Arkansas, USA. PeerJ 9(e12242):1-60 DOI ↗
J. A. Frederickson, T. R. Lipka, and R. L. Cifelli. 2018. Faunal composition and paleoenvironment of the Arundel Clay (Potomac Formation; Early Cretaceous), Maryland, USA. Palaeontologia Electronica 21(2):31A:1-24 DOI ↗
J. I. Kirkland, M. B. Suarez, and C. A. Suarez, R. K. Hunt-Foster. 2016. The Medial Cretaceous in East-Central Utah—the Cedar Mountain Formation and its Bounding Strata. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Field Trip Guide. DOI ↗
M. D. D'Emic, K. M. Melstrom, and D. R. Eddy. 2012. Paleobiology and geographic range of the large-bodied Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus atokensis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 333-334:13-23 DOI ↗
K. L. Davies. 2002. The McLeod sites (a supplement to Field Trip 2). Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 62nd Annual Meeting. Field Trip Guidebook. Field Trip 2. Cretaceous of Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas and Northeast Texas. Oklahoma Geological Survey Open-File Report 10-2002:1-7
P. J. Currie and K. Carpenter. 2000. A new specimen of <i>Acrocanthosaurus atokensis</i> (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of Oklahoma, USA. Geodiversitas 22(2):207-246
D. B. Brinkman, R. L. Cifelli, and N. J. Czaplewski. 1998. First occurrence of Deinonychus antirrhopus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous: Aptian-Albian) of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin 146:1-27
J. D. Harris. 1998. A reanalysis of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, its phylogenetic status, and paleobiogeographic implications, based on a new specimen from Texas. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 13:1-75
J. W. Stovall and W. Langston, Jr. 1950. Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, a new genus and species of Lower Cretaceous Theropoda from Oklahoma. American Midland Naturalist 43(4):686-728 DOI ↗