Prehistoric life
Although tyrannosaurs ruled in the northern hemisphere, abelisaurs such as Majungasaurus reigned in the south. Many Majungasaurus skulls and bones have been found and studied. All came from the Mahajanga Province of Madagascar and date to a time when it was already an island. Majungasaurus was not one of the larger theropod dinosaurs but it was still one of the largest predators of the region.
The short and broad snout was perfect for biting and holding onto sauropods. But sauropods weren't the only thing on its menu. Recently discovered bones with bite marks from other Majungasaurus suggest they ate each other. This was the first direct evidence of cannibalism found in dinosaurs.
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Majungasaurus
The top predator in Madagascar 70 million years ago was Majungasaurus, a killer that at times would even turn into a cannibal.
The top predator in Madagascar 70 million years ago was Majungasaurus, a killer that at times would even turn into a cannibal.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Cretaceous periodMajungasaurus (pron.: /məˌdʒʌŋɡəˈsɔrəs/ mah-JUNG-gə-SOR-əs; "Mahajanga lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 65.5 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Only one species (Majungasaurus crenatissimus) has been identified. This dinosaur was briefly called Majungatholus, a name which is now 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 hindlimbs were longer and very stocky. It can be distinguished from other abelisaurids by its wider skull, the very rough texture and thickened bone on the top of its snout, and the single rounded horn on the roof of its skull, which was originally mistaken for the dome of a pachycephalosaur. It also had more teeth in both upper and lower jaws than most abelisaurids.
Known from several well-preserved skulls and abundant skeletal material, Majungasaurus has recently become one of the best-studied theropod dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere. It appears to be most closely related to abelisaurids from India rather than South America or continental Africa, a fact which has important biogeographical implications. Majungasaurus was the apex predator in its ecosystem, mainly preying on sauropods like Rapetosaurus, and is also one of the few dinosaurs for which there is direct evidence of cannibalism.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
Deadly dinosaurs
More dinosaurs have been discovered in the last two decades than the past 200 years.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Carnivorous
Egg layer
Predator
Adapted to running
Scavenger