Rajasaurus
RAH-jah-SORE-us
"king lizard"
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Abelisauridae
- Found in
- India
- Named by
- Wilson et al. 2003
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Rajasaurus lived on river floodplains in India, with dry banks and patches of woodland. The wider Lameta landscape also supported Isisaurus, Jainosaurus and Rahiolisaurus and was affected by episodes of volcanic activity.
Field notes
About Rajasaurus
What it was like
Rajasaurus was a carnivorous abelisaurid with a single short horn on its forehead, likely used for display and for head-butting rivals rather than for hunting. Like other abelisaurids, it had a short, deep skull and probably relied on ambush rather than a long chase to catch prey.
Its exact size is hard to pin down because the skeleton found so far is incomplete, so estimates of its length still vary between researchers.
Its world
Rajasaurus lived from about 72 to 66 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now India. Its fossils come from the Lameta Formation. At the time, India had broken away from the rest of Gondwana and was drifting as its own landmass, though some animals may still have been able to reach it from nearby regions.
It shared its world with the long-necked sauropods Isisaurus, Antarctosaurus, and Jainosaurus, the theropods Indosaurus and Indosuchus, and the smaller predators Rahiolisaurus and Laevisuchus.
How it was found
Wilson and colleagues named Rajasaurus in 2003, from a partial skeleton that included the braincase, spine, hip, legs, and tail, a first for a theropod found in India. It remains known from that single find, making it one of the more important recent dinosaur discoveries from India.
Field gallery
More views of Rajasaurus
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 Rajasaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Rajasaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves the braincase, backbone, hip and parts of the legs and tail.
- The skull roof carries a single low horn where the nasal and forehead bones meet.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing parts of the head are reconstructed using short-skulled relatives such as Majungasaurus.
- Its extremely short arms follow the preserved forelimbs of relatives such as Majungasaurus and Carnotaurus.
- Scaly skin and lips covering the teeth are inferred from other theropods.
Still unknown
- Its exact adult size.
- Its color and the full shape of the horn's outer covering.
- How it hunted and whether it used its horn against rivals.
Often drawn wrong
- Paired brow horns like those of Carnotaurus replace its single central horn.
- Long grasping arms give it the wrong forelimbs for an abelisaurid.
Discovery timeline
- 2003Named itWilson et al.
- 2008Family treeCarrano & Sampson
- 2012Close relativeBurch & Carrano
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Rajasaurus
Named it
Described the partial skeleton and its low central skull horn, identifying Rajasaurus as an abelisaurid.
A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 31: 1-42
No link available
Family tree
Compared ceratosaur bones to test family relationships, including the placement of Rajasaurus among abelisaurids.
The Phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6: 183-236
Read the paper : The Phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda) (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described the tiny arms and reduced hands of Majungasaurus, a close relative used to reconstruct the missing forelimbs of Rajasaurus.
An articulated pectoral girdle and forelimb of the abelisaurid theropod Majungasaurus crenatissimus from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32: 1-16
Read the paper : An articulated pectoral girdle and forelimb of the abelisaurid theropod Majungasaurus crenatissimus from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Abelisauridae
Sources: Wikidata