Dahalokely Dinosaur is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Madagascar. It belongs to the same group of dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor, and was a meat-eating dinosaur of the family Abelisauridae. It is the only known species of this family to have been discovered in Madagascar.
Dahalokely was first described in 2020 by researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. The fossil bones of the species were first discovered in the late 1990s and were later studied by the researchers in 2020. The genus name Dahalokely is derived from the Malagasy word "Dahalo" meaning "fierce" and "kely" meaning "flying". The skeletal remains of Dahalokely were estimated to be about 8 to 10 meters long. This dinosaur weighed around 2.5 tons, making it a medium-sized predator in comparison to its larger contemporaries like Tyrannosaurus rex. The remains of Dahalokely were found in a formation known as Maevarano Formation in the Mahajanga Basin in the north of Madagascar.
Dahalokely Facts :
| Name: | Dahalokely Dinosaurs |
| Size: | 8 to 10 meters |
| Main Facts: | The front legs of Dahalokely are comparatively short, and may have been used for prey-capturing and rearing up. |
Fossils of other dinosaurs from the same formation have been previously discovered, including the small theropod Majungasaurus, the large sauropod Rapetosaurus, and the ankylosaur minor Masiakasaurus, among others. The most distinctive feature of Dahalokely is its large skull. It has a wide and short skull, with a short snout and four premaxillary teeth. The teeth in the lower jaw curve inwards, enabling the dinosaur to hold prey securely in its jaws.
Its diet is thought to have mainly consisted of fishes and other small animals, although it is also possible that it could have fed on larger prey such as other dinosaurs. Given the lack of distinguished features in the skeleton, it is not known whether any of the Dahalokely species survived until the end of the Cretaceous period. However, its descendants are thought to have evolved into several groups, including baryonychines and abelisaurids, which are found throughout Africa and South America today.
