Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
330 / Mesozoic
Masiakasaurus
Masiakasaurus knopfleri
Forward-projecting front teeth may have hooked small slippery prey.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 72–66 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Seasonal floodplains · Madagascar
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Masiakasaurus?
Masiakasaurus (Masiakasaurus knopfleri) was an extinct organism known from About 72–66 million years ago, with a range in Seasonal floodplains · Madagascar.
Life and ecology
This lightly built abelisaurid chased fish, small vertebrates or invertebrates.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Masiakasaurus disappear?
Non-avian dinosaurs, including Madagascar's, ended with the end-Cretaceous impact; the record of Masiakasaurus does not establish that it survived until that event.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Masiakasaurus?
Jaws, teeth and partial skeletons from several animals document growth.
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