biology

Veterupristisaurus

Veterupristisaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Veterupristisaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Veterupristisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. Discovery and naming Veterupristisaurus is known from the holotype specimen MB R 1938, an isolated middle caudal vertebra.

Key takeaways

Veterupristisaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Veterupristisaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Veterupristisaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Veterupristisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania.

Discovery and naming

Veterupristisaurus is known from the holotype specimen MB R 1938, an isolated middle caudal vertebra. Two partially fused posterior middle caudal vertebrae, MB R 2166, from the same locality as the holotype, are referred to this genus and most probably came from the same individual. The anterior caudal vertebra, MB R 1940, may also represent this genus. The holotype was collected in the St (EH) locality of the Tendaguru in German East Africa, from the Middle Dinosaur Member of the Tendaguru Formation, dating to the late Kimmeridgian to earliest Tithonian faunal stage of the Late Jurassic, about 154-150 million years ago. The holotype was originally referred to Ceratosaurus? roechlingi by Werner Janensch in 1925. Veterupristisaurus was named by Oliver W. M. Rauhut in 2011 and the type species is Veterupristisaurus milneri. The generic name translates as "old shark lizard". It refers to the fact that Veterupristisaurus is currently the oldest known representative of the "shark-toothed lizards", the carcharodontosaurids. The specific name honours the paleontologist Angela C. Milner.

Description

Veterupristisaurus was a large bipedal animal. The length of the holotype vertebra is about 123 mm (4.8 in). Veterupristisaurus has been estimated to have been about 8–11 m (26–36 ft) in length. There are teeth from Tendaguru Formation that probably belong to this taxon. Whether the individual represented by the holotype represents an adult individual cannot be determined based on the available material. It is diagnosed by a spinoprezygapophyseal lamina in the middle caudal vertebrae extending anteriorly to the midwidth of the base of the prezygapophysis and being flanked laterally by a short, parallel lamina extending from the lateral margin of the prezygapophysis posteriorly. Thus, Rauhut considered a sister-group relationship between Veterupristisaurus and Acrocanthosaurus within the Carcharodontosauridae. In 2025, the study that described Tameryraptor, which had Rauhut as a co-author, noted its only diagnostic character was shared with Lusovenator, making the validity of Veterupristisaurus questionable.

Classification Veterupristisaurus is generally recovered as a member of the Carcharodontosauridae although some studies find it to be a Carcharodontosaurian outside of Carcharodontosauridae instead.

Cau (2024) found Veterupristisaurus to be a carcharodontosaurid forming a clade with Sauroniops, Lusovenator, Eocarcharia, and Concavenator. In 2025, the describers of Tameryraptor noted that the main diagnostic character of Veterupristisaurus ("a double spinoprezygapophyseal lamina in the mid-caudal vertebrae") is also seen in Lusovenator, making the validity of Veterupristisaurus questionable.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Veterupristisaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Veterupristisaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Veterupristisaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Veterupristisaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Veterupristisaurus

In research: Veterupristisaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Veterupristisaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Veterupristisaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Carcharodontosauridae, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Tanzania, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Veterupristisaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Veterupristisaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Veterupristisaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Veterupristisaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Veterupristisaurus in simple terms?

Veterupristisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. Discovery and naming Veterupristisaurus is known from the holotype specimen MB R 1938, an isolated middle caudal vertebra.

Why does Veterupristisaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Veterupristisaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Veterupristisaurus.