Masiakasaurus
Name: Masiakasaurus
(Vicious lizard).
Phonetic: Mah-shee-ah-kah-sore-us.
Named By: Scott D. Sampson, Matthew Carrano,
and Catherine A. Forster - 2001.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Abelisauroidea, Noasauridae.
Species: M. knopfleri (type).
Type: Carnivore.
Size: 1.8 - 2 meters long.
Known locations: Madagascar, Maevarano Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Parts of skull and post
cranial skeleton. Combined remains make over half of a complete
specimen. Two sets of remains have so far been discovered.
The
first
Masiakasurus remains were described in 2001,
and a second set
of remains were recovered in 2011. This has allowed some of the
original gaps including the premaxilla to be included with the overall
morphology. The
most striking feature of
Masiakasaurus is the way the front teeth point
forward and out of the
mouth. Furthermore the front teeth curve upwards at the end creating
a hooking action. This would have greatly increased the ability of
Masiakasaurus to catch small, fast moving prey.
A popular
conception for Masiakasaurus’s predatory lifestyle
is using its
specialised teeth to snatch fish from the waters edge.
Recovered
fossil material
suggests what would appear to be two be two forms of Masiakasaurus,
with one being more heavily built and the other more agile. It is as
yet unclear if one is a sub species of the other, or if this
represents sexual dimorphism in this dinosaur.
Masiakasaurus
is not just
famous for its teeth but for the type species being named after the
musician Mark Knopfler.
Further reading
- A bizarre predatory dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar.
- Nature 409 (6819): 504–506. - S. D. Sampson, M. T. Carrano &
C. A. Forster - 2001.
- The osteology of Masiakasaurus knopfleri, a small
abelisauroid
(Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar .
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (3): 510–534. - M. T. Carrano, S.
D. Sampson & C. A. Forster - 2002.
- New materials of Masiakasaurus knopfleri Sampson,
Carrano, and
Forster, 2001, and implications for the morphology of the Noasauridae
(Theropoda: Ceratosauria). - Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology
95: 53pp. - M. T. Carrano, M. T. Loewen & J. J. W. Sertic -
2011.
- Bone histology confirms determinate growth and small body size in the
noasaurid theropod Masiakasaurus knopfleri. -
Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology 33(4): 865-876. - Andrew H. Lee & Patrick M.
O’Connor - 2013.
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