Irritator was a species of Spinosaurid that lived alongside Giganotosaurus, Carnotaurus, and other Carnosaurs and Ceratosaurs from Cretaceous South America. It was around 7-9 metres long, and is very similar to other Spinosaurs. The distinctive name of this Spinosaur, comes from the manner in which it was brought to light. A fossil poacher and somewhat illegal fossil hunter, found the fragmentary skull of the Spinosaur. In an attempt to gain more profits from selling it on to eager Palaeontologists often keeping a watch on the global trade in fossils, the profiteering amateur decided to use plaster of paris to 'repair' the skull. This was done extremely poorly and by the time the British Palaeontologists who were contacted became aware of the fossil, and by the time they had it in their possession, the amateur had caused them a great deal task that inevitably had to be carried out.

What also angered the Palaeontologists was that it was blatantly done merely to gain more of an aesthetic appeal. In reality, it was a mess and caused weeks of laborious counter-repairs by the preparators at Portsmouth University. The Palaeontologists at Portsmouth University were so irritated by the drawn out process and the deception, that they decided to call the new species Irritator. The specific name is Irritator challengeri - in homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World', whose main scientist in the expedition is the maverick Professor Challenger, who furthermore leads an expedition to a South American plateau deep in the Amazon. As it happens, the fossil site of Irritator was also in a similar setting. Recent analysis found an Irritator tooth embedded in the neck bone of a pterosaur , confirming either it scavenged meat, of could catch pterosaurs out of the sky.

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