Editing Carcharodontosaurus (section)

=== Initial finds ===
[[File:Lost holotype teeth of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus.png|thumb|left|250x250px|Lost original teeth of ''C. saharicus'' (Fig. 1-2), the [[lectotype]] being at the top (Fig. 1)]]
In 1924, two teeth of ''Carcharodontosaurus'' were unearthed from wall cuts in different [[Qanat|foggaras]] near [[Timimoun]], [[French Algeria]]. These sediments came from the [[Cretaceous]]-aged<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=Benyoucef |first1=Madani |last2=Pérez-García |first2=Adán |last3=Bendella |first3=Mohamed |last4=Ortega |first4=Francisco |last5=Vullo |first5=Romain |last6=Bouchemla |first6=Imad |last7=Ferré |first7=Bruno |date=2022 |title=The 'mid'-Cretaceous (Lower Cenomanian) Continental Vertebrates of Gara Samani, Algeria. Sedimentological Framework and Palaeodiversity |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=10 |page=927059 |doi=10.3389/feart.2022.927059 |bibcode=2022FrEaS..10.7059B |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Continental intercalaire|Continental intercalaire Formation]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Depéret |first1=Charles |last2=Savornin |first2=Justin |date=1927 |title=La faune de reptiles et de poisons albiens de Timimoun (Sahara algérien) |journal=Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France |volume=27 |pages=257–265 |url=https://patrimoine.sorbonne-universite.fr/viewer/2708/?offset=#page=293&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q=}}</ref> The fossils were taken to the governor of Timimoun, Captain Burté, who gave them to French geologist [[Charles Depéret]] later that year. In 1925, Depéret and his colleague [[Justin Savornin]] [[Species description|described]] the teeth as coming of a new species of [[Theropoda|theropod]] dinosaur, ''[[Megalosaurus]] saharicus''. These were the first fossils of theropods to be described from the region. The [[specific name]] ''saharicus'' refers to the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]] where the teeth had been found.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Depéret |first1=Charles |last2=Savornin |first2=Justin |date=1925 |title=Sur la découverte d'une faune de vertébrés albiens à Timimoun (Sahara occidental) |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3134w/f1108.item.r=saharicus |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences |volume=181 |pages=1108–1111}}</ref> The genus ''Megalosaurus'' was a [[wastebasket taxon]], with many new species referred to it without justification, including ''M.&nbsp;saharicus''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Roger B. J. |last2=Barrett |first2=Paul M. |last3=Powell |first3=H. Philip |last4=Norman |first4=David B. |date=2008 |title=The taxonomic status of ''Megalosaurus bucklandii'' (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Oxfordshire, UK |journal=Palaeontology |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=419–424 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00751.x |bibcode=2008Palgy..51..419B |s2cid=83324840 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It was later considered to be a species of ''[[Dryptosaurus]]'' in 1927,<ref name=":3" /> though this is unjustified.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=von Huene|first=Friedrich|year=1956|title=Palaeontologie und Phylogenie der Niederen Tetrapoden|publisher=VEB Gustav Fischer Verlang|volume=1|place=[[Jena]]|pages=716|oclc=489883421}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Sereno |first1=Paul C. |last2=Dutheil |first2=Didier B. |last3=Iarochene |first3=M. |last4=Larsson |first4=Hans C. E. |last5=Lyon |first5=Gabrielle H. |last6=Magwene |first6=Paul M. |last7=Sidor |first7=Christian A. |last8=Varricchio |first8=David J. |last9=Wilson |first9=Jeffrey A. |year=1996 |title=Predatory Dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous Faunal Differentiation |journal=Science |volume=272 |issue=5264 |pages=986–991 |doi=10.1126/science.272.5264.986 |pmid=8662584 |bibcode=1996Sci...272..986S |s2cid=39658297 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/13893/files/PAL_E831.pdf |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |access-date=March 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204204501/https://doc.rero.ch/record/13893/files/PAL_E831.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> By accident, another species of ''Megalosaurus, M. africanus'', was named by [[Germany|German]] paleontologist [[Friedrich von Huene]] based on the teeth.<ref name=":4" /> It is therefore considered a [[Synonym (taxonomy)|junior synonym]] of ''M. saharicus''.<ref name="Mortimer 2023 Carnosauria"/> Both syntypic teeth of ''M. saharicus'' have since been lost, possibly being kept in a collection in Algeria, [[Paris]], or [[Lyon]], and lack distinguishing characteristics from other [[Carcharodontosauridae|carcharodontosaurids]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Brusatte |first1=Stephen L. |last2=Sereno |first2=Paul C. |date=December 12, 2007 |title=A new species of ''Carcharodontosaurus'' (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian of Niger and a revision of the genus |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=902–916 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[902:ANSOCD]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=86202969 }}</ref> In 1960, French paleontologist [[Albert-Félix de Lapparent]] reported the discovery of more teeth and several caudal vertebrae from sites in Algeria belonging to ''Carcharodontosaurus'',<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=de Lapparent |first=Albert |date=1960 |title=Les dinosauriens du "Continental intercalaire" du Sahara central. |url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/media/translated_publications/Lapparent_60.pdf |journal=Memoirs of the Geological Society of France |volume=88A |pages=1–57}}</ref> though some of these fossils might belong to other genera.<ref name="Mortimer 2023 Carnosauria"/> Later authors mentioned finds of teeth and isolated fossils from other provinces of Algeria.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Gabani, A. |author2=Mammeri, C. |author3=Adaci, M. |author4=Bensalah, M. |author5=Mahboubi, M. |date=2016 |title=Le Crétacé continental à vertébrés de la bordure sud du Plateau de Tinhert: considérations stratigraphiques et bilan paléontologique |journal=Mémoire du Service Géologique de l'Algérie |volume=19 |pages=39–61}}</ref><ref name=":14" />

[[File:Tameryraptor_(holotype,_SNSB-BSPG_1922_X_46).png|thumb|238x238px|Prior April 1944 photo of the partial skeleton described by [[Ernst Stromer]] in 1931, now the holotype of ''[[Tameryraptor]]'']]

However, a partial skeleton later referred to ''C. saharicus'' was first found in marls near [[Bahariya Oasis|Ain Gedid]], Egypt, in early April 1914 by [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] paleontologist [[Richard Markgraf]]. Marls from this region derive from the [[Cenomanian]]-aged [[Bahariya Formation]], one of many Cretaceous-aged sites of [[North Africa]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Stromer |first1=Ernst |date=1931 |title=Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharîjestufe (unterstes Cenoman). 10. Ein Skelett-Rest von ''Carcharodontosaurus'' nov. gen. |trans-title=Results of Prof. E. Stromer's research trips in the deserts of Egypt. II. Vertebrate remains from the Baharîje stage (lower Cenomanian). 10. A skeletal remains of ''Carcharodontosaurus'' nov. gen. |journal=Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung |series=Neue Folge |language=de |volume=9 |pages=1–31|url=https://www.dinochecker.com/papers/Stromers-Egypt-expedition_Carcharodontosaurus_Stromer_1931.pdf|translator-last1=Carrano|translator-first1=Matthew}}</ref><ref name=":5" />{{sfn|Ibrahim|Sereno|Varricchio|Martill|2020|p=162}} In this formation, Markgraf did extensive collecting of dinosaur skeletons for his employer, German paleontologist [[Ernst Stromer]] of the [[Paläontologisches Museum München]] (Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology).<ref name=":8"/> Due to [[World War I|political tensions]] between the [[German Empire]] and then [[History of Egypt under the British|British-owned Egypt]], this skeleton, since numbered as SNSB-BSPG 1922 X 46, took years to get to Germany. It was not until 1922 that they were transported overseas to [[Munich]] where they were described by Stromer in 1931.{{sfn|Nothdurft|Smith|2002|p=107–108}} Stromer recognized that the skeleton's teeth would match the characteristic dentition of those described by Depéret and Savornin, which led to Stromer conserving the species name ''saharicus.'' However, he found it necessary to erect a new genus for this species, ''Carcharodontosaurus'', for their similarities, in sharpness and serrations, to the teeth of the [[great white shark]] (''Carcharodon carcharias'').<ref name=":8" /> In his 1931 and 1934 descriptions, Stromer designates the smaller of the two teeth originally described by Depéret and Savornin as the [[type specimen]] (name-bearing specimen) of the [[taxon]].<ref name=":8" />{{sfn|Stromer|1934|p=62}} Thus, this tooth, although lost, must be considered as the [[lectotype]] of ''C. saharicus''.<ref name=Tameryraptor/> [[World War II]] would break out in 1939, leading SNSB-BSPG 1922 X 46 and other material from Bahariya to be destroyed during a [[Bombing of Munich in World War II|British bombing raid on Munich]] during the night of April 24/25, 1944.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Joshua B. |last2=Lamanna |first2=Matthew C. |last3=Mayr |first3=Helmut |last4=Lacovara |first4=Kenneth J. |date=2006 |title=New information regarding the holotype of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Stromer, 1915 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=80 |issue=2 |pages=400–406 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2006)080[0400:NIRTHO]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=130989487 }}</ref>{{sfn|Nothdurft|Smith|2002|p=117}} An [[endocast]] was made and survived the war, being the only remaining relic of the specimen.{{sfn|Ibrahim|Sereno|Varricchio|Martill|2020|p=162, 164}} However in 2025, this specimen was redescribed as the holotype of a distinct carcharodontosaurid genus, ''[[Tameryraptor]]''.<ref name=Tameryraptor/>