Dinosaurs / Triassic / Bagualosaurus
Bagualosaurus
Triassic bah-GWAH-lo-SAWR-us, “valiant or strong lizard”
Bagualosaurus is an early sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in southern Brazil during the Late Triassic, roughly 230 million years ago. It is represented by a well-preserved partial skeleton, including parts of the skull, found near the town of Agudo. Measuring roughly two and a half metres from snout to tail tip, it was comparable in size to a sheep in weight and body length, although significantly elongated by its tail. As a bipedal animal, it walked on two slender hindlegs while using its forelimbs for grasping foliage. The teeth exhibit serrations typical of an herbivorous diet, indicating an evolutionary transition away from the faunivorous or omnivorous ancestry of very early saurischians. Its discovery provides critical clues about the radiation of sauropodomorphs across Gondwana.
Its dentition shows early dietary adaptations toward plant eating compared to its omnivorous relatives.
Where and when
Bagualosaurus lived in the Late Triassic, from 233.2 to 228 million years ago (Carnian age). Its remains come from Brazil, in the Santa Maria Formation.
The numbers
Length 2.4 m (estimates run from 2.2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 26 kg. Hip height about 0.7 m. That is 1.4 human-lengths, or 0.21 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.