Vitakridrinda
Name:
Vitakridrinda
(named after Vitariki).
Phonetic: Ve-tah-kri-drin-dah.
Named By: M. Sadiq Malkani - 2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Saurischia,
Theropoda, Abelisauroidea, Abelisauridae.
Species: V. sulaimani
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unknown due to lack of remains.
Known locations: Pakistan, Balochistan - Pab
Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains including a
tooth, braincase and two femurs (thigh bones), a partial
rostrum (snout) was later attributed to the genus. Some
vertebrae recovered.
Described
from very partial remains, Vitakridrinda is a
difficult dinosaur to
talk about other than it seems to have been an abelisaurid.
Abelisaurs were the dominant type of theropods in the southern
continents during the late Cretaceous while the tyrannosaurs dominated
the North. Because of the abundance of late Cretaceous rocks in
Asia, abelisaurids are becoming increasingly common, with several
genera such as Rajasaurus,
Indosuchus
and Rahiolisaurus
to name but
three coming from the Lameta Formation of nearby India. The late
Cretaceous deposits of Pakistan may one day yield an equally impressive
collection of abelisaurid genera.
In
2006 M. S. Malkani also named five new genera of titanosaur from
the Pab Formation, Marisaurus,
Balochisaurus,
Sulaimanisaurus,
Khetranisaurus
and Pakisaurus,
all described only from caudal
vertebrae, though at least two have had additional fossils from other
areas of the body attributed to them. As a predator, it is not
inconceivable that Vitakridrinda may have attacked
titanosaurs,
particularly juveniles that were not fully grown.
Further reading
- Biodiversity of saurischian dinosaurs from the latest Cretaceous
Park of Pakistan, M. Sadiq Malkani - 2006.
- First rostrum of carnivorous Vitakridrinda
(Abelisaurid theropod
dinosaur) found from the Latest Cretaceous dinosaur beds (Vitakri)
Member of Pab Formation, Alam Kali Kakor Locality of Viakri area,
Darkham District, Balochistan, Pakistan, M. Sadiq Malkani -
2006.
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