Dino card No. 1694 of 2,015

Staurikosaurus

Say it: STORE-ih-koh-SORE-us

Name means: “southern cross lizard”1

Ate: MeatFirst dinosaursLate Triassic

Staurikosaurus was one of the very first dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth. It was a small, fast meat-eater that lived in what is now Brazil over 220 million years ago.1 2

Lived

237 to 227 million years ago3

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)2 1

Food

Meat1

Length

2 m1

Weight

10 kg to 30 kg2

estimate based on related herrerasaurids

Artist's life restoration of Staurikosaurus — How Staurikosaurus may have looked, by Nobu Tamura email:nobu.tamura@yahoo.com http://spinops.blogspot.com/ http://paleoexhibit.blogspot.com/. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Staurikosaurus was one of the earliest known dinosaurs, living about 227 to 221 million years ago during the Triassic Period.1

It was only about 2 metres (6.6 feet) long, roughly the size of a large dog.1

Its name means 'southern cross lizard', after the Southern Cross constellation that can be seen from Brazil.1

Only a single partial skeleton has been found, including parts of the skull, backbone, hips and legs.3

Some scientists once thought Staurikosaurus might be the same as Herrerasaurus, another early dinosaur from Argentina.2

Staurikosaurus lived alongside giant amphibians and early crocodile-like reptiles in a warm, dry landscape.2

Myth buster

Myth: Many people think Staurikosaurus was a type of prosauropod or plant-eater.

Truth: Scientists now agree it was a theropod, a meat-eating dinosaur closely related to Herrerasaurus.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Staurikosaurus
Named by: Colbert 19703
Group: First dinosaurs
Family / clade: Herrerasauridae3
Classification: Herrerasauridae3
Age of the rocks: 237 to 227 million years (Carnian)3
Rock formations: Santa Maria3
Countries: Brazil3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Also known as: Teyuwasu (older names now counted as the same animal)3
Discovery: Staurikosaurus was named by American paleontologist Edwin H. Colbert in 1970, based on a partial skeleton found in the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil.3 1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Staurikosaurus was a very early theropod or a primitive dinosaur that lived before theropods split from other dinosaurs.2

Where the facts come from

Staurikosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Staurikosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.