Chindesaurus

Chindesaurus was a lithe predatory dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period in what is now the south-western United States. Its fossils, found in the colourful petrified badlands of Arizona and New Mexico, comprise a partial skeleton including vertebrae, pelvic bones, and limb elements. Reaching about two to two and a half metres in length, it was a moderate-sized hunter comparable to a slender wolf in mass. Classification of Chindesaurus has generated considerable debate among researchers; while once viewed as a basal saurischian or prosauropod relative, modern consensus generally allies it with the South American herrerasaurids. It ran swiftly on long back legs, equipped with curved claws and a carnivorous jaw designed to capture small vertebrates and invertebrates. Its presence in North America confirms that herrerasaurids achieved a broad geographic distribution across Pangaea before going extinct.

Discovered at Petrified Forest National Park, it was nicknamed Gertie after the famous animated cartoon dinosaur.

Where and when

Chindesaurus lived in the Late Triassic, from 215 to 210 million years ago (Norian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Chinle Formation.

The numbers

Length 2.3 m (estimates run from 2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 28 kg. Hip height about 0.8 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.

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