Sunlight once streamed through thick trees across the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, India. In this dense forest, a small two-legged dinosaur species and early predator, known as the Maleriraptor kuttyi, cautiously made its way among lush greenery. It stood just over a meter tall and stretched nearly two meters from nose to tail.
This discovery from India shows that carnivorous dinosaurs dwelled in places and during time periods previously unthought of.
Dinosaur fossil of early predator uncovered in south-central India
The newly identified creature was described in a recent study published in the Royal Society Open Science.
A team of scientists from the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales in Buenos Aires, working with Indian researchers, analyzed fossil bones found in the Upper Maleri Formation of south-central India.
Discovery sheds light on changing ecosystems
The fossils date back to the early Norian stage of the Late Triassic period from over 200 million years ago. This rock layer, located in the Pranhita-Godavari Basin, encapsulates a time of major change in prehistoric life following the extinction of several early reptiles, including that of rhynchosaurs.
The discovery of the Maleriraptor in this layer adds to the region’s significance, which has already yielded fossils of long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs known as sauropodomorphs.
Comparative analysis reveals evolutionary position
Labeled ISIR 282, the fossil includes parts of the hip, tail, and pelvis. To understand where this dinosaur fits in the evolutionary timeline, scientists used two large datasets to compare its bones with those of other early dinosaurs.
One set focused on early meat-eaters, while the other looked specifically at relatives of the Maleriraptor.
Maleriraptor dinosaur, an early predator, sits between North and South American species
Analysis placed the Maleriraptor kuttyi in the middle of a group known as the herrerasaurians—some of the earliest-known carnivorous dinosaurs.
It appears more advanced than North American species such as the Tawa and Chindesaurus yet less evolved than members of the South American Herrerasauridae.
While the Maleriraptor shares certain traits, such as hip features, with the South American types, it lacks others, including a thick front hip bone and a wide ridge above the hip socket.
Fossil features confirm early predator identity
Still, the fossil shows important herrerasaurian traits, including a short bone behind the hip socket and a vertical part of the pelvis. These features confirm its place in the group and suggest that these early predators were more widespread than scientists once believed.
The discovery of the Maleriraptor dinosaur as early predators pushes back the timeline and expands the known range of herrerasaurians. It challenges earlier views that these dinosaurs lived only in South America during the Late Triassic.
The name Maleriraptor is derived from the Maleri Formation, where the fossil was found. “Raptor” means thief, a common term for small hunters. The species name kuttyi honors the late T. S. Kutty, who discovered the fossil and helped describe it in earlier studies.
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