224Mesozoic
Acrocanthosaurus
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Tall neural spines along the neck and back supported a muscular ridge rather than a paper-thin sail.
River plains and open woodland · North America
Local fossil evidence ↗
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Dinosaurs Found in Texas
Explore Texas dinosaur evidence through Acrocanthosaurus body fossils and the distinction between named skeletons and possible dinosaur trackmakers.
Places, environments and evidence
Acrocanthosaurus specimen SMU 74646 provides a published body-fossil record from the Early Cretaceous of Texas. Dinosaur Valley’s tracks offer a different kind of evidence: identifying a probable trackmaker is not the same as identifying a skeleton. This guide currently links one matching atlas profile, not every dinosaur named from Texas. The park’s guide introduces additional local dinosaurs beyond the current atlas selection.
Acrocanthosaurus: bones identify a dinosaur
The published Texas specimen SMU 74646 anchors this guide's Acrocanthosaurus entry. A specimen number lets a reader follow the identification back to described material, which is stronger evidence for local presence than a suggested trackmaker alone.
Dinosaur Valley: tracks are a different record
The Paluxy River trackways record feet moving across soft sediment. Texas Parks & Wildlife distinguishes the track types and discusses likely makers. A footprint can document a dinosaur's passage without identifying its species with certainty.
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterosaur, not a dinosaur
Texas also yielded Quetzalcoatlus from Big Bend. It belongs to the flying reptile group Pterosauria, so it is linked for comparison rather than counted among this page's non-avian dinosaur records.
Common questions
Can a footprint identify a dinosaur species with certainty?
Not usually. Tracks record movement and foot shape, while several animals may produce similar traces. The Texas membership here is supported by published Acrocanthosaurus skeletal material, not only a suggested trackmaker.