Daemonosaurus
"evil spirit lizard"
Type species Daemonosaurus chauliodus
- Lived
- 206 to 201 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early dinosaurs
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Sues et al. 2011
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
200 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on a river floodplain in what is now New Mexico. Other dinosaurs from the Chinle Formation include Coelophysis, Tawa and Chindesaurus.
Field notes
About Daemonosaurus
What it was like
Daemonosaurus was a small, early dinosaur with a short head and big, forward-pointing front teeth like buck teeth. It is known only from a skull and a few neck bones, so the rest of its body is unknown. It was probably a predator of small animals.
Its world
It lived near the end of the Triassic, in what is now New Mexico. It comes from the Chinle Formation, where it lived beside the slender early theropod Coelophysis.
How it was found
Sues and colleagues named Daemonosaurus in 2011. The type species is Daemonosaurus chauliodus, which refers to its buck teeth. It shows that some early dinosaur lines survived alongside newer groups late into the Triassic.
Field gallery
More views of Daemonosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Daemonosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Daemonosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A nearly complete skull and lower jaw, with bones from the front of the neck.
- The skull has a short, deep snout, a large eye socket and enlarged front teeth that lean forward.
Borrowed from relatives
- Tawa and Herrerasaurus help fill missing parts of the skull and neck in a restoration.
Still unknown
- The shape and proportions of the body behind the neck.
- Its closest relatives among early dinosaurs.
- Whether the known animal had finished growing, and what its skin and color were like.
Often drawn wrong
- A long, slender snout like Coelophysis loses its distinctive short, deep muzzle.
Discovery timeline
- 2009Close relativeNesbitt et al.
- 2011Named itSues et al.
- 2020Full descriptionNesbitt & Sues
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Daemonosaurus
Close relative
Described Tawa, an early dinosaur used to compare skull and neck features with Daemonosaurus.
A Complete Skeleton of a Late Triassic Saurischian and the Early Evolution of Dinosaurs. Science 326: 1530-1533
Read the paper : A Complete Skeleton of a Late Triassic Saurischian and the Early Evolution of Dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)Named it
Named a short-snouted dinosaur with enlarged front teeth from a skull and neck bones found among Coelophysis remains.
A late-surviving basal theropod dinosaur from the latest Triassic of North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278: 3459-3464
Read the paper : A late-surviving basal theropod dinosaur from the latest Triassic of North America (opens in a new tab)Full description
Mapped the crushed skull and described its unusual mix of features shared with different early dinosaur groups.
The osteology of the early-diverging dinosaurDaemonosaurus chauliodus(Archosauria: Dinosauria) from theCoelophysisQuarry (Triassic: Rhaetian) of New Mexico and its relationships to other early dinosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191: 150-179
Read the paper : The osteology of the early-diverging dinosaurDaemonosaurus chauliodus(Archosauria: Dinosauria) from theCoelophysisQuarry (Triassic: Rhaetian) of New Mexico and its relationships to other early dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Saurischia
Sources: Wikidata