Saurophaganax is a dubious genus of massive theropod dinosaur, closely related to Allosaurus, known from the Late Jurassic of southwestern North America.
It is represented by one species in Prehistoric Kingdom, Saurophaganax maximus, and is an alternate genus to Allosaurus.
In-Game[]
Description[]
Saurophaganax was present in the Morrison Formation and lived at around the same time and place as Allosaurus, though Saurophaganax was larger and more robust. In-fame Saurophaganax can be distinguished from Allosaurus by ornamental scales along the animal's body and rugged crests. Its single skin is rusty red to brown with dark striping, adding to its overall imposing character. Unlike other large allosauroids in-game such as Acrocanthosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, Saurophaganax does not poses slit pupils.
Management[]
TBA
In-Game Trivia[]
Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven
Paleontology[]
Saurophaganax was first discovered by John Willis Stovall in 1931, and was named as a new genus and species of theropod by Stovall in 1941. The name Saurophaganax maximus translates to "The Largest King of the Lizard Eaters".
Saurophaganax has been thought to be a species of Allosaurus prior to 2024 by some, and older versions of its renditions in Prehistoric Kingdom have followed this referring to it as "Allosaurus maximus", however some had come to doubt this interpretation while Prehistoric Kingdom's Sauophaganax was being designed.
Late in 2024, a paper by Andrew Danison, Matt Wedel and others looked at the material assigned to Saurophaganax and discovered that the holotype (name bearing) specimen of Saurophaganax maximus was not clearly identifiable as belonging to a theropod, and may instead belong to a sauropod of some kind, perhaps a juvenile Apatosaurus. Because of this, the authors elected to establish "Saurophaganax maximus" as a "Nomen Dubium" and instead assign the diagnostic material that clearly belonged to a distinct giant allosaurid of some kind to a new species of Allosaurus, A. anax. The name translates to "Different Lizard King" and is both a play on Tyrannosaurus rex, the "Tyrant Lizard King", and a way to keep part of the original name around out of respect for the original authors.
As it currently stands Saurophaganax as a name has a few paths in the future; if the holotype vertebra is found to be diagnostic as a sauropod "Saurophaganax maximus" could become a new taxa of sauropod, and Allosaurus anax would remain a distinct theropod taxa. If the vertebra is found to be diagnostic as a theropod "Allosaurus anax" would likely be subsumed back into Saurophaganax once again. If the vertebra remains unidentifiable, Allosaurus anax would remain as the valid scientific name for the giant allosaurid material found at Kenton.
Paleoecology[]
Very little is known about how Saurophaganax would have lived. It likely was a sauropod hunter akin to Allosaurus, with its increased size likely assisting in this way of life. It is likely that it also employed the grapple-and-bite strategy suggested for Allosaurus, but on a larger scale. This would contrast it from other large allosauroids such as Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus and Meraxes, who seem to have taken a similar evolutionary route to tyrannosaurids and abelisaurids by shrinking their arms significantly.
The large size of Saurophaganax likely would have made it a dominant predator in the Morrison ecosystem, allowing it to effectively guard its kills and perhaps even steal food from smaller theropods in a similar fashion to modern lion interactions with other smaller carnivores like leopards and cheetahs.
Sociality has been suggested in other allosauroids such as its close relative Allosaurus and fellow giant sauropod hunter Mapusaurus, so it is possible that Saurophaganax may have been social to some degree. This, however, is impossible to test with how sparse information about this animal is at the moment, much like many other facets of this animal's life history.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Saurophaganax was first revealed to be returning as its own unique alternate-genus in the Prehistoric Kingdom Artbook alongside the new designs of Allosaurus.
- Due to recent studies, Saurophaganax will join Ugrunaaluk as one of the few dubious taxa joining the ranks of Prehistoric Kingdom.
- The bones of Saurophaganax are known to be somewhat radioactive, similar to many other fossils from the Morrison Formation.
- This makes Saurophaganax one of the few non-avian dinosaurs that can still pose a danger to humans if care is not taken.
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