A bizarre predatory dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar

Scott D. Sampson (), Matthew T. Carrano and Catherine A. Forster
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Scott D. Sampson: University of Utah
Matthew T. Carrano: Health Sciences Center, State University of New York
Catherine A. Forster: Health Sciences Center, State University of New York

Nature, 2001, vol. 409, issue 6819, 504-506

Abstract: Abstract Here we report the discovery of a small-bodied (∼1.8 m) predatory dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Madagascar. Masiakasaurus knopfleri, gen. et sp. nov., represented by several skull elements and much of the postcranial skeleton, is unique in being the only known theropod with a highly procumbent and distinctly heterodont lower dentition. Such a derived dental morphology is otherwise unknown among dinosaurs. Numerous skeletal characteristics indicate that Masiakasaurus is a member of Abelisauroidea, an enigmatic clade of Gondwanan theropods. Previously, small-bodied abelisauroids were known only from Argentina1,2,3. The occurrence of Masiakasaurus on Madagascar suggests that small-bodied abelisauroids, like their larger-bodied counterparts, were more cosmopolitan, radiating throughout much of Gondwana and paralleling the diversification of small coelurosaur theropods in Laurasia.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35054046

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