''Indrasaurus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of extinct

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

s, containing one species, ''Indrasaurus wangi''. Its fossil remains were found as stomach contents of a ''

Microraptor ''Microraptor'' (Greek, μικρός, ''mīkros'': "small"; Latin, ''raptor'': "one who seizes") is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China. They dat ...

'' fossil specimen found in the

Liaoning province Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, China in 2003. It was found by a team of paleontologists led by Professor Jingmai O'Connor from the

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP; ) of China is a research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaur specimens (many from the Yixian Formation). As its name sugges ...

(IVPP), together with researchers from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature. The stomach content of the ''Microraptor'' was not recognised by scientists when it was first uncovered. On further examination by scientists in 2019, the ''Microraptor'' stomach contents were revealed to contain the fully swallowed remains of a previously unknown lizard species. Following this, the new species was formally described and named in 2019. The species was named after Prof. Wang Yuan of IVPP, also the director of the Paleozoological Museum of China at the time of identification of the species and an expert on the paleoherpetofauna of China. The name ''Indrasaurus'' was inspired by a Vedic legend in which god Indra was swallowed by the dragon Vritra during a great battle (the dragon in the legend being equated with the ''Microraptor'' specimen that had swallowed the lizard specimen).

References

Lizards Fossil taxa described in 2019 {{cretaceous-reptile-stub