Pampadromaeus

Pampadromaeus is an exceedingly early and primitive sauropodomorph dinosaur that roamed what is now southern Brazil during the Late Triassic period, roughly 233 million years ago. Known from a well-preserved partial skeleton including skull material, it looked radically different from its colossal long-necked descendants. It was a slender, lightly built bipedal runner about the size of a medium dog. The most telling feature of Pampadromaeus lies in its jaws, which possess teeth suited to a versatile omnivorous diet including leaves, insects, and small vertebrates. Discovered in the fossil-rich Santa Maria Formation, this agile animal offers palaeontologists a clear snapshot of how the sauropod lineage began before evolving massive body sizes and entirely herbivorous habits.

Its mixed tooth anatomy displays traits of both carnivores and plant eaters, suggesting an omnivorous transitional diet.

Where and when

Pampadromaeus 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 1.4 m (estimates run from 1.2 to 1.5 m). Mass about 11 kg. Hip height about 0.4 m. That is 0.8 human-lengths, or 0.13 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Pampadromaeus with a bus Place on the timeline