MERAXES
a carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina.
Pronunciation: muh-RAK-seez
Meaning: for Meraxes
Author/s: Canale
et al. (
2022)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Neuquén, Argentina
Discovery Chart Position: #1072
Meraxes gigas
(Giant Dragon)Etymology
Meraxes is named after a dragon from the fantasy fiction series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin, which was the inspiration behind "Game of Thrones".
The
species epithet,
gigas, means "giant" in Greek.
Zoobank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:84B1D98B-2E5F-4000-866C-19625DB6C428.
Discovery
The remains of
Meraxes were discovered at Las Campanas Canyon in the Huincul Formation (Neuquén Group), 25 km southwest of Villa El Chocón, Neuquén Province, Argentina
The
holotype (MMCh-PV 65) is skull missing the lower jaws, pectoral and pelvic girdles, fore- and hindlimbs, fragments of neck and back vertebrae, complete sacrum, and tail vertebra.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Cenomanian
Age range: 95-94 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 11 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 4.5 tons
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Canale JI, Apesteguía S, Gallina PA, Mitchell J, Smith ND, Cullen TM, Shinya A, Haluza A, Gianechini FA and Makovicky PJ (2022) "New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction".
Current Biology, 32(14): 3195-3202. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. [Image Credit.]
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
MERAXES :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/MERAXES›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
