Masiakasaurus
| Masiakasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Masiakasaurus skull at the Field Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Superorder: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Superfamily: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Masiakasaurus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Masiakasaurus knopfleri Sampson et al., 2001
| |
Masiakasaurus was a small predatory theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Its a small, bipedal, meat-eating dinosaur that had forward-pointing teeth, a long neck, and a long tail. It was about the size of a really big dog.
The species name Masiakasurus knopfleri, was named for Mark Knopfler, a guitarist and singer from the rock band Dire Straits. The paleontologists who discovered this dinosaur were listening to Knopfler's music when they found and dug up Masiakasaurus.
