Eoraptor

Eoraptor is one of those dinosaurs that we aren’t quite sure of. Eoraptor was one of the first dinosaurs ever to walk on the planet and lived in the Late Carnian stage of the Triassic. This was a time when the Earth had vanquished the previous Permian synapsids, and new ecological niches were opening up, creating room for a new bunch of animals. The landscape was dry and arid, including the home of our Eoraptor, which were the dusty sands of Patagonia.

Eoraptor has a rather confusing dental structure. It’s teeth suggest that it was a sauropod (this was one of the things that were the causes for the change in the dinosaur family tree structure),meaning it was a herbivorous dino that was the predecessor to the famous Brachiosaurus. But the rest of the body anatomy suggests a totally different theory; that Eoraptor and its kin, the herrerasaurids, were all part of the theropod family tree. It’s slender, long legs, armed with sharp claws indicate that it was a speedy runner. The claws on its hand bear a very primitive feature: instead of the typical 3 fingers, it had an extra two, the last one too small to be used. This added up to the fact that Eoraptor was probably an agile hunter, occasionally feeding on plants.

Scientific Fact File:

Scientific name: Eoraptor lunensis 

Length: 2 - 4 metres

Diet: Possible omnivore

Habitat: Dry, arid plains

Location: Argentina