Majungasaurus
muh-JUNG-gah-SORE-us
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- about 7 m (23 ft)
- Weight
- about 1.1 metric tons (1.2 short tons)
- Group
- Theropods, Abelisauridae
- Found in
- Madagascar
- Named by
- Lavocat 1955
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in meters
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
River channels crossed a floodplain that experienced dry seasons in Madagascar. Rapetosaurus, Masiakasaurus and Rahonavis lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Majungasaurus
What it was like
Majungasaurus was a stocky, two-legged predator with a short, wide snout and a single rounded horn on top of its skull. It grew to about 7 meters (23 feet) long and weighed around 1,100 kilograms (2,425 pounds). Its arms were very short, while its legs were long and powerfully built.
Rough, thickened bone covered the top of its snout, and its skull was wider than in most of its relatives. Majungasaurus had more teeth in its jaws than many other abelisaurids, and was the top predator in its ecosystem.
Its world
Majungasaurus lived in what is now Madagascar about 72 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous, right before the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs. Its fossils come from the Maevarano Formation.
It hunted large plant eaters such as the long-necked Rapetosaurus, and shared its world with the small, fast Masiakasaurus and the early bird relative Rahonavis. Majungasaurus is one of the few dinosaurs with direct evidence that it sometimes ate other Majungasaurus, based on tooth marks found on its own bones.
How it was found
Lavocat named Majungasaurus in 1955, though the first bones had been found decades earlier and mistaken for other animals. About 25 finds of the genus are known today, including several well-preserved skulls, making it one of the best-studied predatory dinosaurs found in Madagascar.
Field gallery
More views of Majungasaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 7
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Majungasaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Majungasaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Well-preserved skulls show a short, deep snout, rough facial bones and a single low horn on the skull roof.
- An articulated shoulder and arm show extremely reduced forelimbs with short fingers.
- Tooth marks on its own bones match its teeth, showing that it sometimes ate other Majungasaurus.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of its body shape comes from its own bones, including the skull, backbone and tiny arms.
- A mainly scaly covering follows relatives such as Carnotaurus, which preserves skin impressions.
Still unknown
- The shape of the horn's outer covering.
- The body proportions of very young animals.
- Its color and whether adults cared for young.
Often drawn wrong
- It had a single low horn on the skull roof, rather than the paired horns of Carnotaurus.
- Its arms were tiny, with short fingers rather than long, grasping claws.
Discovery timeline
- 1955Named itLavocat
- 2003How it fedRogers, Krause & Curry Rogers
- 2007SkullSampson & Witmer
- 2017Full descriptionBurch
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Majungasaurus
Named it
Established Majungasaurus from part of a lower jaw found in the Late Cretaceous rocks of Madagascar.
Sur une portion de mandibule de Théropode provenant du Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar. Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle 27: 256-259
Read the paper : Sur une portion de mandibule de Théropode provenant du Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar (opens in a new tab)How it fed
Matched tooth marks on sauropod and Majungasaurus bones to its teeth, providing direct evidence that it sometimes ate members of its own kind.
Cannibalism in the Madagascan dinosaur Majungatholus atopus. Nature 422: 515-518
Read the paper : Cannibalism in the Madagascan dinosaur Majungatholus atopus (opens in a new tab)Skull
Detailed the short, deep skull, rough facial bones and low horn, and examined how the head was built for feeding.
CRANIOFACIAL ANATOMY OF MAJUNGASAURUS CRENATISSIMUS (THEROPODA: ABELISAURIDAE) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCAR. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 32-104
Read the paper : CRANIOFACIAL ANATOMY OF MAJUNGASAURUS CRENATISSIMUS (THEROPODA: ABELISAURIDAE) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCAR (opens in a new tab)Full description
Reconstructed the muscles of its tiny arms and showed how extreme shortening changed the shoulder, elbow and hand.
Myology of the forelimb of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda, Abelisauridae) and the morphological consequences of extreme limb reduction. Journal of Anatomy 231: 515-531
Read the paper : Myology of the forelimb of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda, Abelisauridae) and the morphological consequences of extreme limb reduction (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Abelisauridae
Sources: Wikidata