Outline: a typical early sauropodomorph
Ahvaytum
ah-VAY-tum
"long ago"
Type species Ahvaytum bahndooiveche
- Lived
- 237 to 227 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early sauropodomorphs
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Lovelace et al. 2025
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
230 million years ago
Field notes
About Ahvaytum
What it was like
Ahvaytum was a tiny early dinosaur, probably an early relative of the long-necked sauropods. It is known only from leg bones, which show it was about the size of a chicken.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic, in what is now Wyoming. It comes from the Popo Agie Formation. It is one of the oldest dinosaurs known from North America.
How it was found
Lovelace and colleagues named Ahvaytum in 2025. The type species is Ahvaytum bahndooiveche. The name comes from the language of the local people, who helped choose it.
Close relatives
Other members of Sauropodomorpha
Sources: WikidataNamed in: D. M. Lovelace, A. M. Kufner, and A. J. Fitch, K. Curry Rogers, M. Schmitz, D. M. Schwartz, A. LeClair-Diaz, L. StClair, J. Mann, R. Teran. 2025. Rethinking dinosaur origins: oldest known equatorial dinosaur-bearing assemblage (mid-late Carnian Popo Agie FM, Wyoming, USA). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 203:zlae153