Bharitalasuchus tapani
- An international team of researchers has thrown light on a carnivore reptile that lived 240 million years ago.
- The fossils of this reptile were found on rocks of the Yerrapali Formation in what is now called Telangana.
- In the Telugu language, Bhari means huge, Tala means head, and Suchus is the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed deity.
- This reptile belongs to a genus and species previously unknown to science.
- The species is named after palaeontologist Tapan Roy Chowdhury in honour of his contribution to Indian vertebrate palaeontology and especially his extensive work on the Yerrapalli Formation tetrapod fauna.
- Further studies revealed that the reptile belonged to a family of extinct reptiles named Erythrosuchidae.
- The team notes that they 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.