Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Masiakasaurus

Say it mah-shee-ah-kah-sore-us. The name means ‘vicious lizard’.

Masiakasaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 2 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Late Cretaceous84 to 71 million years ago
Fossils found in: Madagascar
Named by: Sampson, Carrano & Forster (2001)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Ceratosauria › Neoceratosauria › Abelisauroidea › Abelisauria

Where Masiakasaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Other small theropods

Bambiraptor Late Cretaceous
Borogovia Late Cretaceous
Noasaurus Late Cretaceous
Pyroraptor Late Cretaceous
Oviraptor Late Cretaceous
Saurornithoides Late Cretaceous
Citipati Late Cretaceous
Conchoraptor Late Cretaceous

Source: Masiakasaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.