Jurassic Fight Club
Register
Advertisement

Majungatholus
Creature information
AttributesSimilar to other abelisaurs, but much more colorful (male) Dull-colored (female)
Time periodLate Cretaceous of Madagascar
DietOther dinosaurs, but can also resort to cannibalism
Serial information
Deaths causedTwo Majungasaurus (Mother and baby)
Appears inFirst appearance: "Cannibal Dinosaur" Other appearances: "Biggest Killers" and "Armageddon"

Majungasaurus[1] (meaning "Mahajanga lizard") was a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Maastrichtian stage of the Cretaceous period (approximately 70 to 66 million years ago), in what is now known as the Maeverano Formation in Madagascar. It was first discovered in 1896 by French paleontologist Charles Depéret, and was assigned to the genus Megalosaurus (which was considered a wastebasket taxon in the 1800s). Depéret later reclassified Majungasaurus as a species of Dryptosaurus (a genus of theropod dinosaur, famous for its portrayal in Charles R. Knight's "Leaping Laelaps" painting). in 1995, René Lavocat named the dinosaur: Majungasaurus, which translates to "Mahajanga lizard", referring to the Mahajanga district of Madagascar, where the first remains of the animal were found.

Majungasaurus appeared in the first episode "Cannibal Dinosaur" and later in the final episode "Armageddon" and the episode Biggest Killers (episode).

In the first episode, a male Majungasaurus wanders into the territory of a female, and attempts to attract her with a courtship display. This doesn't work, and after a short skirmish, the male discovers that the female already has a baby, hence her not wanting to mate. The male's new objective is to kill the baby to bring the female back in heat. after a violent brawl, the female stumbles over a log and is knocked unconscious, at which point the male kills the baby Majungasaurus. The female Majungasaurus regains consciousness and charges toward the male in a final effort to save her baby, breaking his neck and subsequently paralyzing him. Unfortunately, the female fails to save her baby and eats it to regain the energy she spent fighting the male. Speaking of which, he becomes the female's next meal as she tears into him, ripping out his liver and presumably feeding until she was full.

Description[]

Majungasaurus was a relatively small dinosaur compared to animals such as Tyrannosaurus; measuring approximately 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) in length, standing over 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall at the hips), and weighing an estimated 1,500 kilograms. It belonged to a family of dinosaurs known as abelisauridae (Bonaparte and Novas, 1985), which had unusually short and broad skulls, elongated bodies, and short limbs (Carnotaurus is the one exception to this trend, as its legs were elongated and built for speed). The arms of abelisaurs in particular were incredibly short and imobile, resting horizontally against the animal's body and likely being vestigial in life. Like most of its relatives, Majungasaurus possessed a series of bumps, rough patches, and other head ornamentation. A small, horn-like structure protruded from its skull, which may have been a display structure that was covered in keratin when the animal was alive.


Combat[]

In Cannibal Dinosaur, Majungasaurus was shown to be a formidable fighter. It's head, while absolutely NOT capable of head-butting enemies, wielded fairly powerful jaws lined with sharp teeth. In addition, the dinosaur's long, muscular tail could also be used to stun and injure foes. The parental instincts of theropod dinosaurs is not fully understood, but based on modern relatives such as crocodiles, JFC's fiercely protective female Majungasaurus may be accurate. The mother turned to show her size and flashed her teeth as an intimidation display, implying that the animals preferred scaring away rivals rather than fighting and risking injury.

Diet[]

Majungasaurus is the largest known predator of its ecosystem, and fossilized bite marks indicates that it preyed upon the titanosaurian sauropod known as Rapetosaurus. Chances are it probably ate anything it could catch, and it's one of the few dinosaurs definitively known to display cannibalistic behavior, alongside Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus.

Trivia[]

  • The Majungasaurus is one of the most inaccurately-portrayed creatures in Jurassic Fight Club.
    • It is oversized, standing 9 feet (3 meters) tall, measured up to approximately 28 feet (8 meters) long, and weighed more than a ton. In reality, Majungasaurus measured approximately 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) in length, standing over 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall at the hips), and weighing an estimated 1,500 kilograms.
    • Both the male and female models have well-developed forelimbs with joints and unusually human-like hands. In reality, the arms of Majungasaurus were so short, they didn't even have wrists or hands and likely served little to no purpose in life.
    • It is briefly mentioned in both Cannibal Dinosaur and Biggest Killers that Majungasaur's appearance may have been the result of mutations from inbreeding due to its restricted geographic range. This hypothesis is completely invalid as related genera such as Erkrixinatosaurus and Rugops possess similar traits to Majungasaurus, despite being found in much larger localities which (according to the show) would prevent inbreeding because there would have been a larger gene-pool.
    • In Armageddon, the show claims that Majungasaurus and its contemporaries went extinct as a result of mega-tsunamis caused by the asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period. This would've been impossible unless the mega-tsunamis somehow skipped over the rest of Africa. Instead, it's possible that debris from the asteroid strike blocked out the sun, killing plants and the animals that ate them, which resulted in the extinction of Majungasaurus because there were no herbivores to eat.
  • The Majungasaurus is the only creature in the show with noticeable sexual dimorphism (the visual differences between males and females of a species), with the male being more colorful and having prominent fleshy head ornamentation and a dulap/wattle similar to a chicken, while the female lacks any ornamentation and is a mix of dull browns and greens. This is a cool-looking and believable piece of speculation, which almost makes up for the inaccuracies mentioned above.
  • By examining a 67-million-year-old Majungatholus fossil, scientists confirmed that theropod dinosaurs had respiratory systems similar to that of birds, with flexible air sacs that allow the lungs a constant supply of air instead of requiring inward and outward breaths (like mammals).
  • In Jurassic Fight Club, Majungasaurus is referred to by the name "Majungatholus". this name stems from the discovery of a dome-shaped skull fragment in 1979, which was thought to be a pachycephalosaur, hence the "tholus" part of majungatholus, which means "dome" in latin. This fossil was later re-examined and assigned to Majungasaurus, making Majungatholus a synonym name.
  • Jurassic Fight Club's Majungasaurus was the inspiration for a rock recording act that's led by Chicago-based musician Mike Gentile, aptly named "Majungas".[2]
Advertisement