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Lametasaurus

Say it: luh-MAY-tuh-SOR-us

Name means: “Lameta lizard, named after the Lameta Formation in India where it was found”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Lametasaurus was a big meat-eating dinosaur that lived in India about 70 million years ago. It walked on two legs and had strong back legs for chasing prey. Scientists are still figuring out exactly what it looked like because its fossils are a mix of different animals.1 3

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fossils were found in the Lameta Formation near Jabalpur, India, specifically at Bara Simla.1 3

Food

Meat3

Length

9 m2

largest known specimen

Weight

up to 3.6 tonnes1

estimated from the robust tibia

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 cars

as long as 2 cars parked in a rowas long as 50 bananas end to endas heavy as 120 big dogsas heavy as 720 watermelons

How big was Lametasaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Lametasaurus was first thought to be an armored dinosaur like Stegosaurus, but later scientists realized it was a meat-eater.1

The original fossils included bones, teeth, and armor plates, but in 1964 scientists decided only the armor plates belonged to Lametasaurus.1

Some scientists think the leg bones actually belong to another dinosaur called Rajasaurus, which was also a meat-eater from India.1

The armor plates might not be from a dinosaur at all, but from a giant plant-eating titanosaur.1

Lametasaurus weighed about 3,600 kilograms (7,900 pounds), as heavy as a large rhinoceros.1

The type specimen has been lost, so scientists cannot study it directly to solve the mystery.1

AI-made picture of Lametasaurus — An AI-made picture of how Lametasaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Lametasaurus

?What did Lametasaurus eat?

Lametasaurus was a meat-eater, or carnivore. It ate other animals, likely smaller dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures.3

?How big was Lametasaurus?

Lametasaurus weighed about 3,600 kilograms (7,900 pounds), as heavy as a large rhinoceros. Its exact length is unknown because its fossils are a mix of different animals.1

?Why is Lametasaurus called a chimera?

Lametasaurus is called a chimera because its fossils are a mix of bones from different animals, including a meat-eating dinosaur, a plant-eating titanosaur, and maybe a crocodile. Scientists are not sure which parts belong to which animal.1

?Is Lametasaurus a real dinosaur?

Lametasaurus is considered a nomen dubium, or a doubtful name, because its original fossils are lost and it is a mix of different animals. Most scientists think it is not a valid dinosaur species.1 3

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Myth buster

Myth: Lametasaurus was a slow, armored plant-eater.

Truth: It was actually a meat-eating theropod dinosaur, and the armor plates may not even belong to it.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Lametasaurus
Named by: Matley 19243
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Abelisauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Ceratosauria > Abelisauridae3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Lameta3
Countries: India3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Charles Alfred Matley found the fossils between 1917 and 1919 near Jabalpur, India, and named Lametasaurus indicus in 1923.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Lametasaurus is a real dinosaur or a mix of different animals, and some think it might be the same as Rajasaurus.1

Where the facts come from

Lametasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Lametasaurus indicus | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Lametasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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