| Tawa Temporal range: Late Triassic | |
|---|---|
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| An artist's illustration of Tawa hallae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Genus: | †Tawa Nesbitt et al., 2009 |
| Species: | †T. hallae |
| Binomial name | |
| Tawa hallae Nesbitt et al., 2009 | |
Tawa is the name given to a very recently (as of December 2009) discovered dinosaur, thought to be an ancestor of T-Rex. It is named after a Pueblo sun god. Tawa is thought to have feathers, very unusual for a Triassic dinosaur! It is thought to have lived around 215 mya, in the Middle Triassic. Not very much is known about Tawa, but hope is that extensive research and analysis will help unlock the history of the dinosaurs' evolutionary chain. Maybe proof will appear that it is related to T-Rex, after all!
Fact File
- Height = Estimated 1m
- Length = 2m
- Weight = 20 kg
- Diet = Carnivore|Carnivorous
- Found = New Mexico U.S.A
Prey
As very little is known about Tawa it is very difficult to accurately tell its eating habits. However, it is most likely that it lived on similar diets to Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor, mainly eating small lizards, insects and carrion. It is unknown as to whether or not it turned to cannibalism in hard times, like Coelophysis.
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