Concavenator

MEANING: Cucnca humped hunter

PERIOD: Early Cretaceous

CONTINENT: Europe

Concavenator is a basal carcharodontosaur with several unique features, including two tall vertebrae on its back forming a tall but narrow crest, possibly supporting a hump. It also had structures resembling quill knobs on each forearm, thought to anchor simple quill-like structures. Concavenator grew up to 6 m in length and about 400 kg in body mass.

Concavenator is from the Early Cretaceous. The Cretaceous is the third and final geological period of the Mesozoic Era, with the Early Cretaceous making up roughly the first half, lasting from about 143 to 100 million years ago. The poles were ice-free, due to the relatively warm climate, and forests extended into high latitudes. The continued breakup of the continents created new coastlines and isolated landmasses, influencing the evolution of distinct dinosaur faunas.

It was a time of transition, as many groups of animals and plants began to take on more modern forms while others declined or disappeared. Pterosaurs continued to thrive, though early birds were becoming more diverse and widespread. Mammals remained small but adapted to a variety of ecological niches. In the oceans, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were common, and early mosasaurs began to appear.

Dinosaurs remained the dominant land animals, with groups like iguanodontians, spinosaurids, and carcharodontosaurids rising to prominence. While sauropods declined in some regions, they remained abundant in the Southern Hemisphere. The first true ceratopsians appeared, and ankylosaurs replaced stegosaurs in their niche. Dromaeosaurs and other small theropods diversified. During this time, the first flowering plants evolved, gradually changing global ecosystems by providing new food sources for herbivores.

Concavenator is a carcharodontosaur. Carcharodontosauridae is a family of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. The group includes some of the largest land predators ever known. Carcharodontosaurids were present on nearly every continent through the Early Cretaceous, and in the Late Cretaceous they were replaced by the abelisaurids in Gondwana and tyrannosaurids in North America and Asia.