Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
226 / Mesozoic
Majungasaurus
Majungasaurus crenatissimus
A short deep skull carried a rounded horn, while tooth marks on its own species provide rare scavenging evidence.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 70–66 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Seasonally dry plains · Madagascar
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Majungasaurus?
Majungasaurus (Majungasaurus crenatissimus) was an extinct organism known from About 70–66 million years ago, with a range in Seasonally dry plains · Madagascar.
Life and ecology
Majungasaurus was Madagascar's top abelisaurid predator, with tiny arms and a powerful neck. It hunted sauropods and scavenged conspecific carcasses.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Majungasaurus disappear?
Non-avian dinosaurs ended with the end-Cretaceous impact; the record of Majungasaurus is not dated precisely enough to show that it survived until that event.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Majungasaurus?
Skeletons of many ages, skull pathologies and Majungasaurus tooth marks on conspecific bones reveal growth, injury and feeding.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS