About 120 Million Years Ago, a Theropod With Giant Claws May Have Ruled Australia

Learn more about the discovery of megaraptorid and carcharodontosaur fossils that shake up Australia’s Cretaceous predatory hierarchy.

By Monica Cull
Feb 19, 2025 10:45 PMFeb 19, 2025 10:47 PM
Cretaceous Australia Landscape. Artwork by Jonathan Metzger. Source - Museums Victoria
Cretaceous Australia Landscape. (Credit: Artwork by Jonathan Metzger. Source: Museums Victoria)

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A new fossil discovery may rewrite Australia’s Cretaceous Period evolutionary history. Paleontologists led by Museums Victoria Research Institute and Monash University uncovered what they believe is the oldest known megaraptorid and possibly the first known evidence of carcharodontosaurs from Australia’s Victoria Coast. 

According to the study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, these findings could change what science has known about predatory hierarchy in Cretaceous Australia. 

“The discovery of carcharodontosaurs in Australia is groundbreaking,” said Jake Kotevski a Ph.D. student with Museums Victoria Research Institute and Monash University, in a press release.

Carcharodontosaurs vs. Megaraptorids

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