Not to be confused with Rajaurisaurus
| Rajasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian, 69–66Ma | |
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| Rajasaurus narmadensis life restoration by Paleocolors | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Majungasaurinae |
| Genus: | †Rajasaurus Wilson et al., 2003 |
| Species: | †R. narmadensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Rajasaurus narmadensis Wilson et al., 2003 | |
Rajasaurus was a medium-sized abelisaurid that roamed ancient India, its name means "regal lizard" or "King Lizard". It could grow to have grown longer than 7 meters, featuring one horn and a powerful build. It lived in Lameta Formation of India in the Late Cretaceous epoch, around 69 to 66 million years ago. Rajasaurus was closely related to Majungasaurus, another abelisaurid from Madagascar, an island that had separated from the Indian landmass about 20 million years earlier.
Description[]
Reconstructed skull of Rajasaurus narmadensis.
Rajasaurus was a quite large abelisaur discovered in the Lameta Formation of southern India, along of fellow abelisaurids Indosaurus, Rahiolisaurus, and a large titanosaurid Isisaurus. R. narmadensis was known from a partial skeleton including a well-preserved skull (with a complete braincase and 70% of the rest of the bones recovered) hip bones and parts of the hind legs, backbone and tail. In 2010, paleontologist Gregory S. Paul stated the creature to have grown 11 metres in length (36 ft).
In 2016, it was downsized to the length of 6.6 metres. But further studies now reveal that the abelisaur could have grown longer, probably 7.1-7.4 metres (23-24 ft) in length, indicating that it was one of the largest theropods to have ever walk the India. Its weight is speculated at 1-2 tons but it needs to be verified. If the tibia, ilium and sacrum of Lametasaurus were indeed the fossils of another Rajasaurus individual then the animal's size could be much bigger as the fragmentary tibia is said to be 58 cm in length, which could make this large individual around 10.5 m in length, 3m tall and 3 ton heavy.
Discovery[]
Tibia, Sarcum and Ilium of Lametasaurus, now referred as another specimen of R. narmadensis.
Rajasaurus was discovered in the Lameta Formation, near the Narmada river. It was found with a partial skeleton that included a nearly completed skull, spine, hip bone, legs, and tail.
Paleoecology[]
Skeletal reconstruction of R. narmadensis.
Rajasaurus had a braincase with thick frontals (4 cm thick) and a single horn on its head, similar to Majungasaurus's horn; it would have most likely be used for display. The head could have been used for side butting, similar to what Pachycephalosaurus would have butted. This may have applied to other abelisaurids that had rough and thick heads.
The Lameta Formation was a semi-arid environment with shrub lands and rivers and several contemporary fauna. Rajasaurus lived along side two abelisaurids, the large Indosuchus (more information is needed) and smaller but sleeker Rahiolosaurus, and many sauropods such as the thick necked titanosaur Isisaurus. It is also suspected that a thyreophoran, specifically a nodosaurid, could have also lived in the Lameta Formation based on the chimera skeleton Lametasaurus. Rajasaurus would have had a relatively strong bite based on its strong built and large head.
In the Media[]
- Rajasaurus appeared on Dinosaur King and its anime.
- Rajasaurus appeared in the video game Fossil Fighters.
- Rajasaurus appeared in the video game Jurassic Park Builder.
- Rajasaurus appeared in Jurassic World: The Game, it was inaccurate of having two fingers instead of four fingers in real life.
- Rajasaurus appeared in Jurassic World: Alive as an epic dinosaur.
- Rajasaurus appeared in the History Channel's documentaries, The First Apocalypse and The History of the World in 2 Hours.
- Rajasaurus was featured in Prehistoric Planet 2, eating baby Isisauruses.
- Rajasaurus was one of the scrapped dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Primal Ops.
- Rajasaurus has appeared in the Roblox game Dinosaur World(2018–2020) but it never returned in Dinosaur World mobile port.
- Rajasaurus has appeared in Minecraft mods such as Fossils and Archeology Revival and in the upcoming New Worlds mod.
References[]
- https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/exhibits_casts/indian_dinosaurs/rajasaurus/
- https://www.mindat.org/taxon-4822829.html
- https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/indian-dinosaurs-fossils-rajasaurus-5300209/
- https://www.thoughtco.com/rajasaurus-1091854
- https://scroll.in/article/734415/rajasaurus-narmadensis-and-other-wonders-five-places-in-india-to-see-ancient-fossils
- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220113-why-indias-fossil-wealth-has-remained-hidden
- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Field-numbers-for-elements-of-the-holotypic-specimen-of-Rajasaurus-narmadensis-GSI-Type_tbl1_30849426
- http://www.dinohunters.com/History/Rajasaurus.htm
Gallery[]
_Carrying_Hatchling.jpg "Rajasaurus(By Frank-Lode) Carrying Hatchling.jpg (100 KB)")
