Indosuchus () is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (Maastrichtian, 70 to 66 million years ago) of what is now India. Like most theropods, Indosuchus was a bipedal carnivore. It was about long, weighed about ,[Paul, G.S., (2010), The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 78] and had a crested skull, flattened on the top.
Discovery and naming
Indosuchus was named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932
[Huene, F. von, 1932, Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte: Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie, 1e Serie, Heft 4, pp. 1-361] and was described by Huene and Charles Alfred Matley in 1933 from three partial skulls found by Matley in
India near
Jabalpur in
Madhya Pradesh in strata of the
Lameta Formation.
[F. v. Huene and C. A. Matley, 1933, "The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the Central Provinces of India", Palaeontologica Indica (New Series), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 21(1): 1-74] The
lectotype is GSI K27/685, consisting of the parietals and frontals of a single individual.
[S. Chatterjee, 1978, " Indosuchus and Indosaurus, Cretaceous carnosaurs from India", Journal of Paleontology 52(3): 570-580] Two paralectotypes were referred, both including material from the posterior skull, with the fossils referred based on the parietal morphology.
[Sebastian, D., & Gishlick, A. (2011, January). THEROPOD MATERIAL FROM LAMETA, INDIA, IN THE COLLECTION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND ITS BEARING ON THE DIAGNOSIS AND PHYLOGENETIC AND TAXONOMIC STATUS OF INDOSUCHUS RAPTORIUS. In JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY (Vol. 31, pp. 95-95). 60 REVERE DR, STE 500, NORTHBROOK, IL 60062 USA: SOC VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY.] The known remains of Lectotype material
I. raptorius has been lost.
The generic name is derived from Indos, Ancient Greek for the Indus and Soukhos, Ancient Greek for the Sobek. The specific name raptorius means "raptorial" in Latin.
Classification
Because only some skull elements have been found,
Indosuchus placement has been somewhat erratic. Although it is now somewhat firmly placed within the Abelisauridae, it was originally assigned by von Huene to the
Allosauridae.
Alick Walker thought in 1964 it was a member of the
Tyrannosauridae. The discovery of other abelisaurids like
Carnotaurus has helped clarify its position; in 1986 José Bonaparte concluded it was an abelisaurid.
Indosuchus is defined based on how the frontonasal suture is placed anteriorly compared to lacrimal, according to Novas et al., 2004.[Novas, F., Agnolin, F., & Bandyopadhyay, S. (2004). Cretaceous theropods from India: a review of specimens described by Huene and Matley (1933). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales nueva serie, 6(1), 67-103.]
See also
-
Timeline of ceratosaur research
External links
