An international team of researchers has thrown light on a carnivorous reptile that lived 240 million years ago. The fossils of this reptile were found on rocks of the Yerrapalli Formation in what is now Telangana.
- This reptile belongs to a genus and species previously unknown to science.
- The team has named it Bharitalasuchus tapani. In the Telugu language, Bhari means huge, Tala means head, and Suchus is the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed deity.
- The species is named after paleontologist Tapan Roy Chowdhury in honour of his contribution to Indian vertebrate paleontology and especially his extensive work on the Yerrapalli Formation tetrapod fauna.
- The reptile belonged to a family of extinct reptiles named Erythrosuchidae.
- As per researchers, Bharitalasuchus tapani were robust animals with big heads and large teeth, and these probably predated other smaller reptiles.
- They were approximately the size of an adult male lion and might have been the largest predators in their ecosystems.
(Source: The Hindu)
