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Herrerasaurus in pink and blue with a pale skull, walking on two legs

N° 002 · Small Beginnings

Herrerasaurus

The First Big Hunter

Say it: herr-ray-rah-SORE-us

Species
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Reig 1963
Name means
Herrera’s lizard
Lived
Late Triassic, about 230 million years ago
Found
Argentina
Length
About 3 to 6 m
Weight
About 135 to 200 kg
Diet
Carnivore

Three things to know

A hunter from the start

A complete skull and skeleton, described in 1992, showed an agile predator that ran on two legs, with short arms built for grasping and raking.

A jaw with a joint in the middle

Each lower jaw had a sliding joint halfway along, letting the toothed front swing about 15 degrees for a flexible, gripping bite.

Named for the man who found it

The name honours Victorino Herrera, a goatherd who came upon its bones in north-western Argentina. It was named in 1963.

Every fact on this page is traced to a published source, listed at the back of the book.

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Herrerasaurus in the book

The real spread of N° 002 from the atlas: the text page with the facts, notes and six signs on the left, the plate on the right.

Herrerasaurus in the book: the left-hand text pageHerrerasaurus in the book: the right-hand plate page

When and where Herrerasaurus lived

Herrerasaurus lived about 230 million years ago, in the same Late Triassic world as Eoraptor, and its fossils come from the same rocks: the Ischigualasto Formation of north-western Argentina. At three to six metres long it was one of the largest meat-eaters of its time, a time when dinosaurs shared the land with many other reptiles, some of them larger and fiercer still.

How Herrerasaurus was discovered and named

Its first bones were found by a local goatherd, Victorino Herrera, and the animal was named in his honour by the palaeontologist Osvaldo Reig in 1963. For decades it was known only from incomplete remains, and its place among the reptiles was unclear. Then, in 1988, an expedition led by Paul Sereno found a complete skull and much of a skeleton, described in the early 1990s, which finally showed what kind of animal it had been.

How Herrerasaurus lived

Herrerasaurus walked on two strong legs and carried long, grasping hands with curved claws. Its jaws were lined with backward-curving, serrated teeth, and the sliding joint in its lower jaw let it grip struggling prey. It probably hunted the small and medium animals of its world, from early mammal relatives to young rhynchosaurs. Whether it was one of the first true meat-eating dinosaurs, the theropods, or a close cousin from just outside that group is still argued over.

Herrerasaurus in Glowing Dinosaurs

Herrerasaurus is entry N° 002 of the atlas, in the chapter Small Beginnings. Its spread follows the same layout as every other dinosaur in the book: on the left, its name and how to say it, the epithet The First Big Hunter, the three facts above, field notes and the six signs that show when it lived, how big it was, how dangerous it would have been, where it was found, what it ate and how it fought. On the right is the full glowing plate: herrerasaurus in pink and blue with a pale skull, walking on two legs. Two more plates of Herrerasaurus appear elsewhere in the book, and each can also be ordered as a signed work for the wall, printed on wood or acrylic under glass. In the same chapter you will also find Eoraptor.

Why Herrerasaurus glows

No dinosaur is known to have glowed, and the book says so plainly. The light is the artist’s way of seeing inside the animal: in the plate of Herrerasaurus, bones, muscles and outline shine through a dark ground, so the shape of the skull, the length of the neck and tail and the build of the legs can be read at once, the way a fossil skeleton is read in a museum hall. The colours are chosen to separate bone from muscle and to make each animal recognisable across the whole atlas, while every fact printed beside the picture is checked against published research.

Questions about Herrerasaurus

How big was Herrerasaurus?

Herrerasaurus measured about 3 to 6 m from nose to tail and weighed about 135 to 200 kg. The size panel on its spread in the book draws it beside a person, so its scale can be seen at a glance.

When did Herrerasaurus live?

It lived in the Late Triassic, about 230 million years ago. On the timeline in the book, its place is marked between the first dinosaurs, about 230 million years ago, and the end of the age of dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.

Where have Herrerasaurus fossils been found?

Its fossils have been found in Argentina. The map on its spread in the book marks the places where its bones were dug up.

What did Herrerasaurus eat?

Its diet: carnivore. The diet sign in the book shows this with a simple symbol, so young readers can sort the plant-eaters from the meat-eaters.

What does the name Herrerasaurus mean?

The name means “herrera’s lizard”. The full scientific name is Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Reig 1963: the genus, the species and the scientist who named it, with the year. It is pronounced herr-ray-rah-SORE-us.

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