Discovery of Maleriraptor kuttyi reshapes understanding of dinosaur survival

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have identified a new species of dinosaur that once roamed the Indian subcontinent. Named Maleriraptor kuttyi, this species lived approximately 220 million years ago during the Norian stage of the Late Triassic period. The carnivorous dinosaur belongs to the group Herrerasauria—early bipedal predators known for their small to medium build.

The research, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, marks a significant milestone: it is the first confirmed evidence that herrerasaurs survived a major ecological upheaval in Gondwana that wiped out several herbivorous dinosaur species.

Rare species previously found only in South America

Until now, fossil evidence of herrerasaurs had been limited to four known species discovered in Argentina and southern Brazil, dating back 233–229 million years. “These species are bipedal forms ranging from 3.9 to 19.7 feet in total length,” said Dr. Martín Ezcurra, a palaeontologist affiliated with the Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences (MACN), the University of Birmingham, and Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council.

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The possibility of herrerasaurs existing outside of South America was first suggested in the mid-1990s, with the identification of Chindesaurus bryansmalli from North America’s Chinle Formation. However, Maleriraptor kuttyi provides the first definitive fossil record of the group in India.

Fossils unearthed in Pranhita-Godavari Valley

The remains of Maleriraptor kuttyi were excavated in the early 1980s from the Pranhita-Godavari Valley, near Annaram village in south-central India. According to the researchers, this region hosts a dinosaur fossil record that is slightly younger than the initial radiation of the Herrerasauria group in the Carnian age.

Palaeontologists involved in the study emphasized that the site offers a rare glimpse into a post-extinction dinosaur ecosystem in Gondwana—an ancient supercontinent that once included present-day India, South America, Africa, and other landmasses.

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Surviving extinction: Herrerasaurs endure where others vanished

The study highlights that Maleriraptor kuttyi lived through a mass extinction event that wiped out rhynchosaurs, a dominant herbivorous species, around 227–220 million years ago.

“The discovery of Maleriraptor kuttyi shows that herrerasaurs survived in Gondwana at least during the early Norian after the event that vanished the rhynchosaurs,” the study’s authors wrote.

This survival makes Maleriraptor kuttyi a rare example of a predator that thrived amid ecological collapse, offering new insights into how certain species adapt and persist in changing climates.

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Climate may explain species distribution across continents

One of the most compelling aspects of the study is its climatic inference. The authors argue that the presence of herrerasaurs in India—and their relative scarcity in south-central South America—may be linked to similar mean temperatures shared between India and southern North America during the Norian period.

“The more similar palaeoclimate between India and southern North America can explain the presence of common faunistic components that are absent in south-central South America (or are extremely rare), such as phytosaurs, herrerasaurs, protopyknosians, and malerisaurine allokotosaurs,” the researchers concluded.

The discovery of Maleriraptor kuttyi not only expands the known geographic range of herrerasaurs but also adds crucial data to the broader narrative of dinosaur evolution, extinction, and survival during one of Earth’s most volatile prehistoric eras.

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