Megaustralosaurus was a large theropod dinosaur that lived in Australia. It was a Megalosaurid dinosaur that was one of the largest theropods in Australia along with Austrailospinus and Australotherizinn.
Discovery[]
Magaustalosaurus was discovered in 2026, with a skull and arm bones found. The skull was unique in that teeth were only present on the upper jaw.
Description And History Of Reconstruction[]
A now inaccurate depiction of Megaustralosaurus as a large bodied, long legged super predator.
Size comparison of the 3 largest australian theropods.
When 1st discovered, Megaustralosaurus was depicted as a standard large theropod with a large body and long legs. The size of the skull and forearms originally gave Megaustralosaurus a length of 14-15 meters and a weight of 8-9 tons. Later specimens were found in 2028, which included a string of tail vertebrae that hinted at a long almost whip like tail. Said tail vertebrae were incorporated into a new reconstruction of Megaustralosaurus and its new length was estimated to up to 18 meters long and its weight was increased to 9-10 tons. This briefly made Megaustralosaurus one of the largest and longest theropods ever discovered. However, with the discovery of the Australospinus skeleton in 2035, the tail vertebrae that were originally assigned to Megaustralosaurus were found to be synonymous with Australospinus instead. This brought Mega's length back down to previous 14-15 meter and 8-9 ton estimates. Finally, in 2037, another specimen was discovered, this time more complete then previous specimens. This specimen included a good portion of the body and tail as well as leg bones and a partially complete skull. The specimen was unusual in that the body to head proportions were different as the body was proportionally smaller to the head then other similar theropods. This new discovery resulted in a brand new reconstruction with gave Megaustralosaurus a lean short legged body with long arms and a large robust head. This new reconstruction resulted in the Mega being portrayed as at least partially quadrupedal. The current size estimate for Megaustralosaurus is up to 14 meters long and a weight of 6-6.5 tons. Even with it's current size, Megaustralosaurus is still one of the longest theropods, being longer than all other theropods except Spinosaurus, Australotherizinn, and Australospinus. This is due to the Mega's proportionally long tail, which likely aided to counterbalance its proportionally larger head.
Habit And Feeding[]
This dinosaur's unusual build makes it considerably different from other Megalosaurid dinos. Its upper jaw teeth were sharp and were likely used for tearing flesh off animals. It's lack of lower jaw teeth suggest that it mostly likely had to sweep down with its upper jaw in order to bite off meat. Its short legs made Megaustralosaurus slower. This likely meant that it relied more on ambush then of pursuit. The Mega likely fed on dinosaurus as large as Australotiton or Austrosaurus, of which it likely fed by biting chunks off living specimens rather than killing them. It also could feed on smaller dinos of which it could actually kill such as Diluvicursor, Muttaburrasaurus, and Atlascopcosaurus. It may have also prayed on young Australotherizinn but was not likely to take on a full 19 meter long adult. It likely competed with Rapator and Australospinus for meat, with it likely being able to drive away the smaller Rapator and being driven away by the larger Australospinus.
Gallery[]
