Metriacanthosaurus (meaning "moderately-spined lizard") is a genus of metriacanthosaurid dinosaur from the Oxford Clay Formation of England, dating to the Late Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago (lower Oxfordian).

[3] In 1923, German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene wrote a paper on Jurassic and Cretaceous European carnivorous dinosaurs within Saurischia.

[4] In 1964, scientist Alick Walker decided these fossils were too different from Altispinax, as they lacked the long vertebral spines, and named the new genus Metriacanthosaurus.

Metriacanthosaurus thus gets its name from its vertebrae, which are taller than typical carnosaurs, like Allosaurus, but lower than other high-spined dinosaurs like Acrocanthosaurus.

However, a 2007 review of British dinosaurs by Darren Naish and David Martill defending keeping the two genera taxonomically separate.