Acrocanthosaurus Classification?

[Concavenator]

What family is Acrocanthosaurus currently placed in? It's often classified as a member of Carcharodontosauridae, but sometimes I have seen it being placed in Allosauridae.

[Leyster]

Acrocanthosaurus is nested deeply as a Carcharodontosauridae more derived than taxa like Concavenator and Neovenator in all recent analyses (such as Malafaia et al. 2019). It resulted as an Allosauridae only when the basal Carcharodontosauria record was basically none (ie Currie & Carpenter, 2000), but at the time other theropods (ie. Neovenator) were considered Allosauridae for the same reason.

[CityRaptor]

It's one of those case where a letter ( and an arrangment of two more ) makes a difference. Acro is nested in Carcharodontosauridae which in turns are part of the Allosauroidea.

[Concavenator]

L @Leyster Thank you for the explanation! Yeah, I was surprised to see it classified as an allosaurid, since I always thought it was a carcharodontosaurid. Still, I find it surprising that Acrocanthosaurus belonged to that family since carcharodontosaurids are more abundant in Gondwana, and that was separated from Laurasia. And regarding Neovenator, is it now considerered a carcharodontosaurid? I thought it had its own family (Neovenatoridae). I searched more info on this and discovered that Megaraptora is placed in this family (Brusatte et al. 2010), but this may not be accurate since megaraptorans are now thought to be basal tyrannosauroids (please correct me if I'm wrong)

It's one of those case where a letter ( and an arrangment of two more ) makes a difference. Acro is nested in Carcharodontosauridae which in turns are part of the Allosauroidea.

Yeah, I know it's an allosauroid, just wanted to confirm the family (not superfamily).

[Leyster]

L @Leyster Thank you for the explanation! Yeah, I was surprised to see it classified as an allosaurid, since I always thought it was a carcharodontosaurid. Still, I find it surprising that Acrocanthosaurus belonged to that family since carcharodontosaurids are more abundant in Gondwana, and that was separated from Laurasia. And regarding Neovenator, is it now considerered a carcharodontosaurid? I thought it had its own family (Neovenatoridae). I searched more info on this and discovered that Megaraptora is placed in this family (Brusatte et al. 2010), but this may not be accurate since megaraptorans are now thought to be basal tyrannosauroids (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Yeah, considering Megaraptorans Coelurosaurs more or less kills Neovenatoridae, since is now limited to Neovenator, Chilantaisaurus and Siats. Nevenator is carcharodontosaur (Carcharodontosauria) not a carcharodontosaurid (Carcharodontosauridae).

[Concavenator]

L @Leyster Thank you for the explanation! Yeah, I was surprised to see it classified as an allosaurid, since I always thought it was a carcharodontosaurid. Still, I find it surprising that Acrocanthosaurus belonged to that family since carcharodontosaurids are more abundant in Gondwana, and that was separated from Laurasia. And regarding Neovenator, is it now considerered a carcharodontosaurid? I thought it had its own family (Neovenatoridae). I searched more info on this and discovered that Megaraptora is placed in this family (Brusatte et al. 2010), but this may not be accurate since megaraptorans are now thought to be basal tyrannosauroids (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Yeah, considering Megaraptorans Coelurosaurs more or less kills Neovenatoridae, since is now limited to Neovenator, Chilantaisaurus and Siats. Nevenator is carcharodontosaur (Carcharodontosauria) not a carcharodontosaurid (Carcharodontosauridae).

Alright, now I have a clearer vision. Thank you!

[dinofigurehobby]

Not sure but thanks for the question. Creature looks awesome.