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New dinosaur found in India
MUMBAI, India (AP) -- U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a new carnivorous dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country. The new dinosaur species was named Rajasaurus narmadensis, or "Regal reptile from the Narmada," after the Narmada River region where the bones were found. The dinosaurs were between 8-10 meters (25-30 feet) long, had a horn above their skulls, were relatively heavy and walked on two legs, scientists said. They preyed on long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs on the Indian subcontinent during the Cretaceous Period at the end of the dinosaur age, 65 million years ago. "It's fabulous to be able to see this dinosaur which lived as the age of dinosaurs came to a close," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. "It was a significant predator that was related to species on continental Africa, Madagascar and South America." Working with Indian scientists, Sereno and paleontologist Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan reconstructed the dinosaur skull in a project funded partly by the National Geographic Society. A model of the assembled skull was presented Wednesday by the American scientists to their counterparts from Punjab University in northern India and the Geological Survey of India during a news conference in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. Scientists said they hope the discovery will help explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and the shifting of the continents -- how India separated from Africa, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica and collided with Asia. The dinosaur bones were discovered during the past 18 years by Indian scientists Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India and Ashok Sahni, a paleontologist at Punjab University. When the bones were examined, "we realized we had a partial skeleton of an undiscovered species," Sereno said. The scientists said they believe the Rajasaurus roamed the Southern Hemisphere land masses of present-day Madagascar, Africa and South America. "People don't realize dinosaurs are the only large-bodied animal that lived, evolved and died at a time when all continents were united," Sereno said. The cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is still debated by scientists. The Rajasaurus discovery may provide crucial clues, Sereno said. India has seen quite a few paleontological discoveries recently. In 1997, villagers discovered about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 700 kilometers (440 miles) northeast of Bombay, that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged, long-necked vegetarian creatures. Indian scientists said the dinosaur embryos in the eggs may have suffocated during volcanic eruptions. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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