Daemonosaurus

Daemonosaurus lived during the latest Triassic in what is now New Mexico, United States, where its remains were recovered from the famous Ghost Ranch quarry. Known from an exceptionally well-preserved skull along with neck vertebrae, it exhibits a strikingly unusual head shape compared to contemporaneous predators. Rather than the long, slender snouts typical of coelophysoids, Daemonosaurus possessed a deep, short skull packed with huge, forward-slanting teeth at the front of its jaws. With an estimated body length of around two metres, it was roughly the size of a greyhound. This compact, muscular hunter likely used its distinctive, protruding front teeth to seize struggling lizards, small archosaurs, and early mammals. Phylogenetic studies place Daemonosaurus at the very base of the theropod lineage, demonstrating that predatory dinosaurs retained diverse morphological forms right up until the end-Triassic mass extinction.

It possessed extraordinarily prominent, forward-angled front teeth giving it a striking buck-toothed appearance.

Where and when

Daemonosaurus lived in the Late Triassic, from 205.7 to 201.4 million years ago (Rhaetian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Chinle Formation.

The numbers

Length 1.9 m (estimates run from 1.5 to 2.2 m). Mass about 15 kg. Hip height about 0.6 m. That is 1.1 human-lengths, or 0.17 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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