Outline: a typical early dinosaur
Tawa
- Lived
- 227 to 206 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early dinosaurs
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Nesbitt et al. 2009
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
220 million years ago
Field notes
About Tawa
What it was like
Tawa was a small, early theropod with a long neck and tail and sharp, curved teeth. Several skeletons are known, which have helped scientists work out how the first theropods were related.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic, in what is now New Mexico. It comes from the Chinle Formation, where it shared the land with Coelophysis and the early predator Chindesaurus.
How it was found
Nesbitt and colleagues named Tawa in 2009. Its name comes from a sun god of a local native people.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Saurischia
Sources: WikidataNamed in: S. J. Nesbitt, N. D. Smith, and R. B. Irmis, A. H. Turner, A. Downs, M. A. Norell. 2009. A complete skeleton of a Late Triassic saurischian and the early evolution of dinosaurs. Science 326:1530-1533