Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Megaraptorans were the ghosts of the Cretaceous. These sleek, heavily armed carnivores are among the most poorly understood and enigmatic theropods from the fossil record. The group has only been formally recognized since 2010, making it one of the newest large theropod clades on the block, but its members have been found all over the world. Megaraptorans were successful medium-to-large carnivores in South America, Africa, and Australia during the Late Cretaceous, living alongside and sometimes even replacing giant carcharodontosaurids from the same areas. Along with abelisaurids, megaraptorans became some of the most dominant apex predators on land during the latest stages of the Cretaceous Period in the Southern Hemisphere, and may have even included multiple elephant-sized megatheropods within their ranks. Let’s go over the known megaraptorans, learning what we can about their anatomy, distribution, and traits that led to their sixty-million-year track record.
Thumbnail art by Literally Miguel
Megaraptorans were the ghosts of the Cretaceous. These sleek, heavily armed carnivores are among the most poorly understood and enigmatic theropods from the fossil record. The group has only been formally recognized since 2010, making it one of the newest large theropod clades on the block, but its members have been found all over the world. Megaraptorans were successful medium-to-large carnivores in South America, Africa, and Australia during the Late Cretaceous, living alongside and sometimes even replacing giant carcharodontosaurids from the same areas. Along with abelisaurids, megaraptorans became some of the most dominant apex predators on land during the latest stages of the Cretaceous Period in the Southern Hemisphere, and may have even included multiple elephant-sized megatheropods within their ranks. Let’s go over the known megaraptorans, learning what we can about their anatomy, distribution, and traits that led to their sixty-million-year track record.
Thumbnail art by Literally Miguel
