Outline: a typical early sauropodomorph
Coloradisaurus
"Los Colorados lizard"
- Lived
- 227 to 206 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Length
- about 4 m (13 ft)
- Group
- Early sauropodomorphs, Massospondylidae
- Found in
- Argentina
- Named by
- Lambert 1983
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical early sauropodomorph shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
220 million years ago
Field notes
About Coloradisaurus
What it was like
Coloradisaurus was a plant eater about 4 meters (13 feet) long, from the long-necked line that later produced the giant sauropods. It had a small head with large eyes, a long neck and strong hands with big thumb claws.
It was a relative of Massospondylus and Lufengosaurus.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic in what is now northwestern Argentina. Its bones come from the Los Colorados Formation, where it shared the land with the plant eaters Riojasaurus and Lessemsaurus and the crested hunter Zupaysaurus.
How it was found
Lambert named Coloradisaurus in 1983. Two finds are known, one with a well-preserved skull.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Massospondylidae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: D. Lambert. 1983. A Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Avon Books, New York