Fossils of the world’s oldest megaraptorid and the first-ever carcharodontosaurs in Australia have been discovered, completely altering the known predator hierarchy of the Cretaceous era.
These finds suggest that, unlike in South America, where carcharodontosaurs were massive apex predators, in Australia, megaraptorids took center stage.
Fossil Discovery Rewrites Dinosaur History
Groundbreaking research published today (February 19) in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology has revealed an extraordinary discovery — fossils of the world’s oldest known megaraptorid and the first confirmed evidence of carcharodontosaurs in Australia. These findings reshape our understanding of theropod evolution and reveal a unique predator hierarchy in Cretaceous Australia.
Led by Museums Victoria Research Institute and Monash University PhD student Jake Kotevski, the study examined five theropod fossils found along Victoria’s coastline. These fossils come from two key geological formations: the upper Strzelecki Group (Bunurong/Boonwurrung Country, Bass Coast), dating back approximately 121 to 118 million years, and the Eumeralla Formation (Eastern Marr Country, Otway Coast), which is between 113 and 108 million years old.
A Unique Predator Hierarchy
The discoveries provide new insights into Victoria’s ancient ecosystem, where large, powerful megaraptorids, reaching 6-7 meters in length, coexisted with smaller carcharodontosaurs (2-4 meters long) and swift, meter-long unenlagiines, also known as ‘southern raptors.’
“The discovery of carcharodontosaurs in Australia is groundbreaking,” says Kotevski. “It’s fascinating to see how Victoria’s predator hierarchy diverged from South America, where carcharodontosaurs reached Tyrannosaurus rex-like sizes up to 13 meters, towering over megaraptorids. Here, the roles were reversed, highlighting the uniqueness of Australia’s Cretaceous ecosystem.”
Oldest Megaraptorids Ever Found
Two of the fossils represent the oldest known megaraptorids globally, expanding our understanding of the group’s evolutionary history and suggesting Australia’s theropod fauna played a pivotal role in Gondwanan ecosystems.
Dr. Thomas Rich, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute, explains, “The findings not only expand Australia’s theropod fossil record but offer compelling evidence of faunal interchange between Australia and South America through Antarctica during the Early Cretaceous. The findings also challenge previous assumptions about body-size hierarchies in Gondwanan predator ecosystems highlighting Victoria’s unique Cretaceous fauna.”
The Power of Museum Collections
The research demonstrates the vital role of museum collections in building on scientific knowledge and fostering significant scientific breakthroughs. “Museum collections are crucial to advancing our understanding of prehistoric life,” says Tim Ziegler, vertebrate paleontology collection manager at Museums Victoria Research Institute. “Specimens preserved in the State Collection for decades – unidentifiable until now – are providing new insights into the evolution of dinosaur ecosystems.”
Additionally, the research illustrates the multigenerational efforts of Museums Victoria Research Institute paleontologists. From senior curator Dr. Thomas Rich, who has been with the museum since 1974, to collection manager Tim Ziegler and onto the next generation in PhD student Jake Kotevski, this study is one example of the collective efforts of our scientists in creating and sharing trusted knowledge.
Volunteers Helping Shape Dinosaur Discoveries
Three of the fossils, uncovered between 2022 and 2023, were first identified by Museums Victoria volunteer Melissa Lowery. This discovery highlights the essential contributions of community members working alongside seasoned researchers to further our understanding of Australia’s Cretaceous past.
Kotevski and the team continue to survey key fossil sites, including where the fossils of the large megaraptorid were discovered, prompting new avenues of investigation for the Dinosaur Dreaming project, which has led to many significant discoveries including more than 10,000 fossil bones and teeth since the project began – including at least seven different dinosaurs, three groups of mammals, birds, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles and fishes.
To learn more about Victoria’s ancient ecosystems and fauna, visit Melbourne Museum’s 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves exhibition and Gandel Gondwana Garden.
Reference: “Evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of new carcharodontosaurian, megaraptorid, and unenlagiine theropod remains from the upper Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, southeast Australia” by Jake Kotevski, Ruairidh J. Duncan, Tim Ziegler, Joseph J. Bevitt, Patricia Vickers-Rich, Thomas H. Rich, Alistair R. Evans and Stephen F. Poropat, 19 February 2025, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2441903
This research is a collaboration between Museums Victoria Research Institute and Monash University.
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16 Comments
I found some thing too that spinosauridae has a odontoid .the odontoid is part of death roll system in bird and mammal is convergent evolution in birds it is flight feature because bird have get feather for flight they have good neck movement and head movement the gator only have good head movement there neck ribs are big but some neck ribs are reduce allso in sauropod they have best neck movement in dinosaur it is fix does not move most dinosaur have primitive tuatara neck ribs because tuatara is ancestor lizard and crocodilian the turtle have same scientific name as birds they have good neck movement to go in the shell
Tuatara very primitive reptile it is still alive most reptile can not move the neck to the side that a bird and mammal feature .bird have to get the feather ready for flight that why they have good neck movement that why maniraptoran are birds they have a odontoid and only dinosaurs has it is sauropod and gator the sauropod is not a tetanuran the gator is tetanuran dinosaur the odontoid is a mesoeucrocodylia feature all mesoeucrocodylia has it .i was skeptic that spinosauridae has odontoid because the neck very different from the gator the gator neck is like duckbill dinosaur how it enter the skull
On fish eating dinosaur from surrey I was looking for advance vertebrae that found in compsognathus the platycoelous vertebrae the baryonyx skeleton report .in protosuchus report cliam they have all crocodilian feature this none mesoeucrocodylia dinosaur that does not have Cingulum teeth not like spinosauridae and gator the crown dinosaur .protosuchus won of most primitive dinosaur there is no link with mesoeucrocodylia the protosuchus has platycoelous I did not look at mesoeucrocodylia it’s seem they have it .
The spinosauridae is the first mesoeucrocodylia they are more simular to primitive whale mesoeucrocodylia they have bone found in dinosaur that missing in most mesoeucrocodylia allso found in protosuchus and most thecodont .mesoeucrocodylia is unique because of death roll easy to tell it from other animal.clearly spinosauridae is true mesoeucrocodylia with the odontoid I know can do death roll because big sail neural spine and lack of neural arch a mesoeucrocodylia feature
Hardly anything in Coelophysis’ comments make any sense. Hardly anything in anatomy or taxonomy. It would certainly help to understand if this person were to learn basic grammar and spelling. I appreciate the effort to enlighten, but it just doesn’t succeed at all.
The “word salad” sign shows disordered thinking suggestive of schizophrenia. However, he sticks broadly to the topic and exhibits no paranoia, suggesting that the condition can still be managed well with medication. I do hope he seeks qualified help.
I notice not one shred of mathematical or statistical proof of any claims is presented here. The Foundational Principles of Random Occurrences are quite clear: “Any random occurrence, event or process that requires a Chance of Occurrence greater than 1 x 10 to the 40th Power is regarded as never going to occur. Since the claims made by evolution require that and even greater chances of ever happening in the order they need or even at all make this theory quite impossible. If you disagree with this foundational rule, please post your data here. Not snippy little comebacks, or more misleading statements, just your data please that proves evolution is possible.
Sorry if you are not convinced of evolution by now there is nothing left available to convince you otherwise except for the word of God so to make it simple for you prove that everything is by design rather than asking others to prove something you prove yourself
Tell me you are an uneducated moron without telling me that you are an uneducated moron, John.
I allway make sense .many scientist agree with me on the Webb because they can not spin the evidence my links in solid I read them I talk on internet for 10 years many supporter of course I was ban some people can not handle the truth .all I care about is science how thing works .modern crocodilian is a super dinosaur the search for dinosaur is over it will be over in future or any day .they will be expose they are not extinct .spinosauridae live.respect gator and it’s performance .modern crocodilian is very dangerous animal no dinosaur can compete with them they have superior weapon .they kill the lion they have video of it on youtube not only predator things mesoeucrocodylia allso eat plants .the is no primitive feature in the gator .this should have been over for many year it’s a victim because of name dinosaur .dinosaur is the most curropt animal because of money .the gator full palate is not primitive just like mammal .
The earth is only 6000 years old, the layers of sediment are all consistent world wide with the great flood 4,000 years ago. How much do they pay you guys to write these fiction stories?
John, your ignorance is astonishing. Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?
How can you spin Nile crocodile warm blooded nose it same nose as mammal .badit scientist now mammal nose is primitive this is not new news they knew dinosaur from 1800 was a gator clearly modern crocodilian is advance reptile very simular to mammal and they know that gator was bipedal by small arm big leg a feature of bipedal animal the crocodilian have no links to tuatara walk and never use finger they grow back to walk .modern crocodilian is only reptile with those nose.modern crocodilian turbinates is now primitive a mammal feature so they can cool down in desert were you find modern crocodilian .irritator fuse lower jaw just like Nile crocodilian a death roll feature so skull will not break .dinosaur lower jaw is not fuse they have intramandibular joint .velociraptor bird achaeopteryx today birds lower jaw is fuse.the early modern bird lower jaw is not fuse which is strange.gator is native arctic weather North Carolina all modern crocodilian are cold hardy they live in cold desert night all them came from Nile crocodile
Nile crocodile and mammal have only one nose hole in the bony skull to get more air in to the muscle clearly warm blooded feature like turbinates. usagator chinesegator dwarf crocodile nose is like the primitive dinosaur like t.rex spinosaurus they have 2 nose hole .for usgator a advance modern crocodilian choose bite force they do not need mammal nose because they have mobile hip to bring in air some dinosaur allso have that feature bird hip dinosaur the advance won. plant eating have this feature too strangely.badit make it easy claim dinosaur is more advance than modern crocodilian there replacement.dinosaur have palate teeth and lack pseudorotunda clearly they are orgin story of modern crocodilian
Allosaurus is only tetanuran with epiotic bone likely old report clearly spinosauridae has it because they have gator hearing the basioccipital is pneumatic like the gator. sphenosuchus and protosuchus basioccipital is not pneumatic advance feature in birds gator they have good hearing allso found t.rex .sphenosuchus and protosuchus they have pseudorotunda but t.rex do not have it there hearing is like tuatara .sphenosuchus and protosuchus inner ear is not close partshall close the gator bird are fully close .skull fusion that what make the gator different from other thecodont and dinosaur because of death roll they need strong jaw more bone allways stronger all thou this is for hearing .bird gator bone is call periotic bone fusion of 3 bone .dinosaur allso has advance hearing feature the stapes is like lizard the lizard has pseudorotunda .bird stapes is like tuatara but bird hear is very good better than the gator.the gator stapes is unique because it is aquatic animal.
Irritator is only dinosaur with a pseudorotunda that why the gator has it .tuatara do not have a pseudorotunda .