Majungasaurus muh-juhngɡuh-SORRUHS
"Mahajanga lizard"
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Majungasaurus 7 m (23 ft) long
4 people holding hands
- Length
- 7 m (23 ft)
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (70–66 Mya)
- Place
- South America · Africa · India · Madagascar
- Food
- Carnivore
- Clade
- Abelisauridae
Majungasaurus (; “Mahajanga lizard”) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, making it one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The genus contains a single species, Majungasaurus crenatissimus. This dinosaur is also called Majungatholus, a name which is considered a junior synonym of Majungasaurus.
Like other abelisaurids, Majungasaurus was a bipedal predator with a short snout. Although the forelimbs are not completely known, they were very short, while the hind limbs were longer and very stocky.
What we know
- Named by (Depéret, 1896) [originally Megalosaurus].
- Body length estimated at about 7 m.
- Fossils found in South America and Africa.