2007/06/12 by Raymond R. Rogers, David W. Krause, Kristina Curry Rogers +2 · 6 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Ichthyology and Marine Biology
paper · doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[21:papomc]2.0.co;2
openalex publication_date 2007/06/12 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The abelisaurid theropod Majungasaurus crenatissimus inhabited the plains of northwestern Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous. It lived alongside other nonavian dinosaurs, including a small-bodied noasaurid theropod (Masiakasaurus knopfleri) and a titanosaurian sauropod (Rapetosaurus krausei). Although an inhabitant of the expansive floodplains of the Mahajanga Basin, M. crenatissimus also frequented the broad and sandy channel belts that drained Madagascar's central highlands. These shallow rivers were populated by a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, including fish, frogs, turtles, and several species of both large and small crocodyliforms. These animals were likely adapted for seasonal fluctuations in water availability because the sediments that entomb their remains (fine-grained debris flow deposits intercalated with stream flow deposits) indicate a strongly variable discharge regime. Associated oxidized calcareous paleosols with localized accumulations of carbonate nodules suggest that the ambient climate was semiarid. The numerous bonebeds preserved in these same sediments are indicative of localized and recurrent pulses of mortality. M. crenatissimus fed on carcasses preserved in these bonebeds, and there is good indication from a wealth of tooth-marked bone derived from two conspecific individuals that it focused on the well-muscled axial skeleton in a fashion similar to that of many modern vertebrate carnivores. This evidence for intraspecific feeding renders M. crenatissimus the only theropod dinosaur with demonstrated cannibalistic tendencies.