Outline: a typical early dinosaur
Gnathovorax
"jaw hungry"
- Lived
- 234 to 227 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early dinosaurs, Herrerasauridae
- Found in
- Brazil
- Named by
- Pacheco et al. 2019
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
230 million years ago
Field notes
About Gnathovorax
What it was like
Gnathovorax was an early meat eater, a relative of Herrerasaurus. It had a big head with large, curved teeth, strong arms with sharp claws, and long legs for running.
Its skeleton is one of the best preserved of its family, including a complete skull, and scans of its braincase show it had good eyesight and balance.
Its world
It lived about 234 to 227 million years ago, in the Late Triassic, in what is now southern Brazil. Its skeleton comes from the Santa Maria Formation, where it was a top hunter among the early dinosaurs Staurikosaurus, Buriolestes and Saturnalia.
How it was found
Pacheco and colleagues named Gnathovorax in 2019, from a single, nearly complete skeleton.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Herrerasauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: C. Pacheco, R. T. Muller, and M. Langer, F. A. Pretto, L. Kerber, S. Dias da Silva. 2019. Gnathovorax cabreirai: a new early dinosaur and the origin and initial radiation of predatory dinosaurs. PeerJ 7(e7963)