In the southern Indian province of Tamil Nadu, a fossilized skeleton belonging to the dinosaur Dravidosaurus was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous crust layers.
This prehistoric animal was first described in 1979 by paleontologists P. Yadagiri and K. Ayyasami, named Dravidosaurus blanfordi.
The giant herbivore lived in the Mesozoic era, about 90 million years ago, in forested regions and near the banks of rivers.
In order to ease his digestion he used to swallow stomach stones – gastroliths – whose sharp edges were grinding vegetable food in large quantities.
It had shorter forelimbs, but robust compared to the very muscular hind limbs, it moved more quadrupedally, but if it wanted to reach the branches of the trees to break the tender leaves or if it wanted to monitor the surroundings it also stood on two legs resting its body on its tail.
Paleontologists estimated the length of this dinosaur to be 3 m and the weight to be 1.5 tons. Characteristic of this species was the double row of large, bony plates on the back and the pairs of spines that appeared at the end of the tail.
This armored structure protects and terrifies predatory dinosaurs, preventing their possible attacks. The plates on the back were covered with highly vascularized skin, which in case of danger became reddish, which made its appearance quite scary.
Dravidosaurus Feed
The food was made up of ground-level plants and tree leaves which he plucked with his toothless Horn snout and chewed with the poorly developed masses from the back of his jaws.
