| Indosuchus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70–66 Ma
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| Life restoration in resting pose | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Genus: | †Indosuchus Huene & Matley, 1933 |
| Species: |
†I. raptorius
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| Binomial name | |
| †Indosuchus raptorius | |
Indosuchus (lit. 'Indian crocodile') is a genusofabelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (70 to 66 million years ago – the Maastrichtian), a theropod related to Abelisaurus. Like most theropods, Indosuchus was a bipedal carnivore. It was about 7 metres long, weighed about 1.2 tonnes,[1] and had a crested skull, flattened on the top.
Indosuchus was named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932[2] and was described by Huene and Charles Alfred Matley in 1933 from three partial skulls found by Matley in India near JabalpurinMadhya Pradesh in strata of the Lameta Formation.[3] The lectotype is GSI K27/685, consisting of the parietals and frontals of a single individual.[4] Two paralectotypes were referred, both including material from the posterior skull, with the fossils referred based on the parietal morphology.[5][3]
The generic name is derived from Indos, Ancient Greek for the Indus and Soukhos, Ancient Greek for the Egyptian crocodile god. The specific name raptorius means "raptorial" in Latin.[3]
Because only some skull elements have been found, Indosuchus placement has been somewhat erratic. Although it is now somewhat firmly placed within the Abelisauridae, it was originally assigned by von Huene to the Allosauridae. Alick Walker thought in 1964 it was a member of the Tyrannosauridae. The discovery of other abelisaurids like Carnotaurus has helped clarify its position; in 1986 José Bonaparte concluded it was an abelisaurid.
Indosuchus is defined based on how the frontonasal suture is placed anteriorly compared to lacrimal, according to Novas et al., 2004.[6]
| Indosuchus |
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