New carnivorous dinosaurs identified in Sahara

DESERT FOSSIL: The two carnivorous dinosaurs identified by scientists were previously unknown.

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

• Fossils of new dinosaur species found

• Many dinosaurs yet to be discovered

• Giant dinosaur bones found in Spain

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• How Satyam pulled off India's biggest fraud 

• Satyam employees on the job, approach head hunters 

• Raju in Hyderabad, won't flee: lawyer | BSE to drop Satyam 

• Satyam CFO quits | 8 subsidiaries under scanner 

• Promising start by Pakistan, but need more: US  

• Indefinite strike by oil PSUs leave petrol pumps dry  

• Prime accused in Guwahati serial blasts shot dead 

• Pak agencies okayed Kasab confirmation: Sacked NSA 

• Watch: Pranab indicates Rahul ready to be next PM 

• Sanjay Dutt to fight Lok Sabha polls from Lucknow 

• Satyam's Interim CEO reassures worried employees 

• Sacked Pak NSA reiterates Kasab's a Pakistani 

• PM says terrorists can't destabilise India 

• Satyam fiasco could affect Hyd metro rail project  

• Rampant criminal activities make Noida insecure  

• Company didn't know of Raju's fraud: CEO 

• Indian offensive pays off, Kasab is a Pakistani 

• BJP avoids Advani vs Shekhawat battle before polls 

• Slumdog Millionaire's Indian connection 

• I need to win a tournament in Europe: Jyoti Randhawa 

• Company didn't know of Raju's fraud: CEO 

• Where is Ramalinga Raju? | Satyam faces lawsuit in US 

• Satyam assures clients, says 'business as usual' 

• Satyam faces lawsuit in New York court 

• Satyam CFO quits | 8 subsidiaries under scanner 

• Raju in Hyderabad, won't flee: lawyer | BSE to drop Satyam 

• India says all options open to dismantle terror groups 

• Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren loses Tamar by-poll 

• IOC warns of petrol, LPG shortage as strike continues 

• Mumbai-like attack could happen in US: Bush aide 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

London: Scientists have identified two previously unknown types of carnivorous dinosaurs from fossils found in the Sahara desert in Niger.

According to the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, one of the dinosaurs probably scavenged its prey like a hyena, the other probably hunted live animals.

"They are the earliest records of both major carnivore groups that would go on to dominate Africa, South America, and India during the next 50 million years, in the Cretaceous Period," co-author Steve Brusatte from the University of

Bristol, was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Named Kryptops palaios or "old hidden face", researchers believe that this creature of about 25 ft in length, may have scavenged food like a hyena.

Eocarcharia dinops, the other carnivorous dinosaur discovered, had blade-shaped teeth, more suited to attacking live prey and hunting.

These meat-eaters are thought to be contemporaries of another carnivorous dinosaur, Suchomimus, a large fish-eating theropod.

"It is clear from their anatomy that they were eating different things: Suchomimus ate fish, Kryptops ate smaller animals and Eocarcharia was the top predator of its day," said

Brusatte.

"Just like in the African savannah today, lions, cheetahs and hyenas must eat different food to survive side by side. It is fascinating to see this in a 110-million-year-old ecosystem," Brusatte added.

Dr Paul Serano, from the University of Chicago, discovered the the fossilised remains of the two 110-million-year-old carnivorous dinosaurs from the Tenere Desert in Niger eight years ago, the report said.