🦖 FIRST DINOSAURS: EORAPTOR & HERRERASAURUS
PAGE 1 OF 5 — SMALL BEGINNINGS
~230 MA
THE DAWN THIEF
In the dusty valleys of what is now Argentina, the first members of Dinosauria were dog-sized, bipedal, and easy to overlook. Eoraptor, the 'dawn thief', scampered on two legs about 231 million years ago. Herrerasaurus was a sharper predator on the same ancient landscape. They carried the blueprint giants would later exaggerate: legs under the body, special hip sockets, and fast movement. The age of monsters started small.
🌅 DAWN THIEF
🌅 Eoraptor ≈ 231 million years ago
🇦🇷 Ischigualasto = 'Valley of the Moon'
🦖 Decades before first T. rex
🇦🇷 Ischigualasto = 'Valley of the Moon'
🦖 Decades before first T. rex
"Small, fast, and built to last."
DAWN!
SIZE
📏 Dog-sized, not giant
🏃 Bipedal runners
🦴 Light, hollow-ish bones
🏃 Bipedal runners
🦴 Light, hollow-ish bones
PLACE
🇦🇷 Famous fossil site in Argentina
🪨 River stones hold bones
🔬 Still studied today
🪨 River stones hold bones
🔬 Still studied today