Staurikosaurus
Staurikosaurus pricei
Pronounced: Staw - rick - Ko - Saw - rus
Diet: Carnivore (meat-eater)
Name Means: "southern cross lizard"
Length: 6 feet (2 m)
Height: 2.5 feet (.8 m)
Weight: 60 pounds (28 kilos)
Time: Triassic
Fossil remains
for this Dinosaur
have been found in
Southern Brazil
Staurikosaurus is one of the three earliest dinosaurs ever discovered. It may have evolved a little later than the Herrerasaurus which it closely resembles. It was a sharp-toothed, meat-eating hunter that ate lizards, mammal-like reptiles and anything else it could catch. It was a fast runner on its large hind legs, probably the fastest land animal of its time.
Since it is one of the earliest dinosaurs ever discovered, Staurikosaurus is considered one of the first of the dinosauriforms, or true dinosaurs. It is known from a partial skeleton and is evidence of the success of the new design nature selected that would shape the course of land-dwelling creatures for the next 160 million years. During this period of Earth's history, dinosaurs still played a minor role in terrestrial life, but that was going to change. |
