Rajasaurus, anyone?
India’s native dinosaur discovered as recently as the early 2000s has been fittingly given an Indian name: Rajasaurus narmadensis, or “regal reptile of the Narmada,” is a predator that lived roughly 65 million years ago, a Smithsonian Mag story recently notes.
Rajasaurus belongs to the sub-family of the wicked carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex, star of many a Jurassic Park movie.
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Central India’s Narmada River where fossils of Rajasaurus have been found — Photo: Ssriram mt
Last month, a study published in the journal Nature found that the dinosaur family tree could be in for a “colossal shakeup.”
“The longstanding division of dinosaurs into “bird-hipped” species including Stegosaurus and their “lizard-hipped” counterparts such as Brachiosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex may no longer be valid,” the article noted.
The study is likely to excite paleontologists the world over …
Paging Ross Geller.
