List of Indian and Madagascan dinosaurs

Globe showing union of India and Madacascar, approx 100 Mya

This is a list of non-avian dinosaurs whose remains have been recovered from the India n subcontinent or Madagascar . Though widely separated today, the Indian subcontinent and Madagascar were connected throughout much of the Mesozoic and shared similar dinosaur faunas, distinct from what has been found on other modern African and Asian landmasses.

The Indian fossil record of dinosaurs is good, with fossils coming from the entire Mesozoic era – starting with the Triassic period (a geological period that started 251.9 million years ago and continued till 201.3 million years ago), to the Jurassic period (201 million years ago to 145 million years ago) and Cretaceous period (from 145 million years ago to 66 million years ago), when globally all non-avian dinosaurs and 65 per cent of all life became extinct. Madagascar also preserves various unique dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous.

Criteria for inclusion

• The genus must appear on the List of dinosaur genera.
• At least one named species of the creature must have been found in the Indian subcontinent or Madagascar.

List of Indian and Madagascan dinosaurs

Valid genera

Name	Year	Formation	Location	Notes	Images
Alwalkeria	1994	Lower Maleri Formation (Late Triassic, Carnian)	India	Possessed different types of teeth in its upper jaw
Archaeodontosaurus	2005	Isalo III Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bajocian to Bathonian)	Madagascar	Retained "prosauropod"-like teeth despite its late age
Barapasaurus	1975	Kota Formation (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian to Pliensbachian)	India	Several individuals have been found associated with tree trunks, which may represent the aftermath of a flood [1]
Brachypodosaurus	1934	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Has been suggested to be a thyreophoran, but such an identification is unlikely
Bruhathkayosaurus	1987	Kallamedu Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Reportedly exceptionally large but its fossils have been lost. [2] Its bones have been informally speculated to be misidentified tree trunks [3] [4] [5] but later research suggests at least the tibia is real [6]
Coeluroides	1933	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Potentially synonymous with Ornithomimoides [7]
Compsosuchus	1933	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Has been suggested to be both an abelisaurid [8] and a noasaurid [9]
Dahalokely	2013	Ambolafotsy Formation (Late Cretaceous, Turonian)	Madagascar	Shares features of both abelisaurids and noasaurids
Dandakosaurus	1982	Kota Formation (Early Jurassic, Pliensbachian to Toarcian)	India	Poorly known but large for an early theropod
Dryptosauroides	1932	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Only known from six caudal vertebrae
Indosaurus	1933	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Had a characteristically thickened skull
Indosuchus	1933	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Its skull was flattened and topped by a short crest
Isisaurus	2003	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Unusually proportioned with a short, robust neck and long limbs
Jainosaurus	1995	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Originally named as a species of Antarctosaurus
Jaklapallisaurus	2011	Upper Maleri Formation (Late Triassic, Norian to Rhaetian)	India	May have been closely related to South American sauropodomorphs [10]
Kotasaurus	1988	Kota Formation (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian to Pliensbachian)	India	The neural spines of its vertebrae were massively constructed, which is a basal trait
Laevisuchus	1933	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Only known from three vertebrae but can confidently be assigned to the Noasauridae [11]
Lametasaurus	1923	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Described based on now lost remains, it is currently seen as a possible chimera including theropod material and osteoderms of uncertain origin
Lamplughsaura	2007	Upper Dharmaram Formation (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian)	India	Large and robustly built
Lapparentosaurus	1986	Isalo III Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian)	Madagascar	Relatively fast-growing as evidenced by the preservation of a large amount of fibrolamellar bone [12]
Majungasaurus	1955	Maevarano Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	Madagascar	Bite marks on several specimens have been found to perfectly match the teeth of this genus, suggesting cannibalistic tendencies [13]
Maleriraptor	2025	Upper Maleri Formation (Late Triassic, Norian)	India	This genus fills a temporal gap between older South American herrerasaurs and younger North American taxa [14]
Masiakasaurus	2001	Maevarano Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	Madagascar	Possessed procumbent teeth at the tips of its jaws which may indicate a feeding specialization
Nambalia	2011	Upper Maleri Formation (Late Triassic, Norian to Rhaetian)	India	Known from the remains of two individuals
Narindasaurus	2020	Isalo III Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian to Callovian)	Madagascar	The oldest known turiasaur
Ornithomimoides	1932	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Two species have been named, both from isolated vertebrae
Orthogoniosaurus	1931	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Only known from a single, fragmentary tooth
Pradhania	2007	Upper Dharmaram Formation (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian)	India	Closely related to Massospondylus [15]
Rahiolisaurus	2010	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Remains of multiple growth stages are known
Rajasaurus	2003	Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Possessed a single, short horn on its forehead that may have been used for display and head-butting [16]
Rapetosaurus	2001	Maevarano Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	Madagascar	Known from almost the entire skeleton, including the skull
Tharosaurus	2023	Jaisalmer Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian)	India	The oldest dicraeosaurid, diplodocoid and neosauropod currently known
Titanosaurus	1877	Kallakurichi Formation, Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	India	Although only known from a few bones, this genus is the namesake of the Titanosauria and the Titanosauriformes
Vahiny	2014	Maevarano Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian)	Madagascar	May have been a rare component of its habitat due to the paucity of its remains

Invalid and potentially valid genera

• 
  Dravidosaurus
• 
  Jubbulpuria
• 
  Rahonavis

• Dravidosaurus blanfordi : Described as a stegosaur but has been suggested to be a plesiosaur. However, it has been reported that stegosaur remains from its time and place are being described.
• Jubbulpuria tenuis : Potentially synonymous with Laevisuchus .
• Rahonavis ostromi : A small feathered maniraptoran. It has been variously suggested to be a dromaeosaurid (possibly an unenlagiine), an avialan or outside both groups.

Timeline

This is a timeline of selected dinosaurs from the list above. Time is measured in Ma, megaannum, along the x-axis.

See also

• Dinosaurs portal
• India portal

• List of birds of India
• List of birds of Madagascar

References

1. Bandyopadhyay, Saswati; David D. Gillette; Sanghamitra Ray; Dhurjati P. Sengupta (2010). "Osteology of Barapasaurus tagorei (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Jurassic of India". Palaeontology. 53 (3): 533–569. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00933.x . ISSN   1475-4983.
2. Galton, Peter M.; Ayyasami, Krishnan (1 July 2017). "Purported latest bone of a plated dinosaur (Ornithischia: Stegosauria), a "dermal plate" from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of southern India". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 285 (1): 91–96. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2017/0671. ISSN   0077-7749.
3. Holtz, T. (1995), "Re: Biggest predators", discussion group, The Dinosaur Mailing List, 22 September 1995. Accessed 24 February 2019.
4. Mortimer, M. (2006), "Re:", discussion group, The Dinosaur Mailing List, 17 November 2006. Accessed 24 February 2019.
5. Brusatte, S. (2001), "Re: Bruhathkayosaurus", discussion group, The Dinosaur Mailing List, 18 June 2001. Accessed 24 February 2019.
6. Pal, Saurabh; Ayyasami, Krishnan (27 June 2022). "The lost titan of Cauvery". Geology Today . 38 (3): 112–116. doi:10.1111/gto.12390. ISSN   0266-6979. S2CID   250056201.
7. Wilson. (2012). Small theropod dinosaurs from the Latest Cretaceous of India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Program and Abstracts 2012, 194.
8. F. E. Novas, F. L. Agnolin, and S. Bandyopadhyay, 2004, "Cretaceous theropods from India: a review of specimens described by Huene and Matley (1933)", Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, nuevo serie 6(1): 67-103
9. New materials of Masiakasaurus knopfleri Sampson, Carrano, and Forster, 2001, and implications for the morphology of the Noasauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) / Matthew T. Carrano, Mark A. Loewen, and Joseph J. W. Sertich.
10. Rodrigo Temp Müller; Max Cardoso Langer; Sérgio Dias-da-Silva (2018). "An exceptionally preserved association of complete dinosaur skeletons reveals the oldest long-necked sauropodomorphs". Biology Letters. 14 (11) 20180633. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0633. PMC   6283919 . PMID   30463923.
11. Rauhut, Oliver W. M.; Carrano, Matthew T. (2016-04-22). "The theropod dinosaur Elaphrosaurus bambergi Janensch, 1920, from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru, Tanzania". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 178 (3): 546–610. doi:10.1111/zoj.12425. ISSN   0024-4082.
12. Rimblot-Baly, F.; de Ricqlès, A.; Zylberberg, L. (1995). "Analyse paléohistologique d'une série de croissance partielle chez Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis (Jurassique Moyen): essai sur la dynamique de croissance d'un dinosaure sauropode". Annales de Paléontologie. 81: 49–86.
13. Rogers, Raymond R.; Krause, David W.; Curry Rogers, Kristina (2007). "Cannibalism in the Madagascan dinosaur Majungatholus atopus". Nature. 422 (6931): 515–518. Bibcode:2003Natur.422..515R. doi:10.1038/nature01532. PMID   12673249. S2CID   4389583.
14. Ezcurra, Martín D.; Garcia, Maurício Silva; Novas, Fernando E.; Müller, Rodrigo Temp; Agnolín, Federico L.; Chatterjee, Sankar (2025-05-07). "A new herrerasaurian dinosaur from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri Formation of south-central India". Royal Society Open Science . 12 (5). doi: 10.1098/rsos.250081 . ISSN   2054-5703. PMC   12077243 .
15. Fernando E. Novas; Martin D. Ezcurra; Sankar Chatterjee; T. S. Kutty (2011). "New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of central India". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 101 (3–4): 333–349. doi:10.1017/S1755691011020093.
16. Paul, G. S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press. pp.  84–86. ISBN   978-0-691-13720-9.