Notatesseraeraptor

Say it: no-ta-TESS-er-ay-RAP-tor

Name means: “feature mosaic tile thief”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Triassic

Notatesseraeraptor was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Switzerland during the Late Triassic. It was about the size of a small car and had a long, low skull with very long and slender teeth at the front of its mouth. Scientists found its nearly complete skeleton, including a skull and even the remains of its last meal!2

Lived

227 to 206 million years ago3

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Gruhalde clay pit in Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland2

Food

Meat2

Length

2.6 to 3 m2

estimated from a juvenile to subadult individual

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 17 bananas end to end

How big was Notatesseraeraptor compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Notatesseraeraptor is the first Mesozoic theropod dinosaur ever named from Switzerland.1

Its name means 'feature mosaic tile thief' because its body has a mix of traits seen in two other dinosaur groups: the dilophosaurids and the coelophysoids.1

The skull of Notatesseraeraptor is the most complete theropod skull from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of Europe. Over 90% of the skull bones were found.2

This dinosaur lived about 209 million years ago, during the latest part of the Norian stage of the Triassic Period.1

Notatesseraeraptor had four exceptionally long but slender teeth in its premaxilla (the front of the upper jaw). These teeth were as long as the teeth behind them but narrower.2

The fossil was discovered in 2006 in a clay pit that was already famous for many skeletons of the dinosaur Plateosaurus.2

AI-made picture of Notatesseraeraptor — An AI-made picture of how Notatesseraeraptor might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Notatesseraeraptor

?How big was Notatesseraeraptor?

It was about 2.6 to 3 metres (8.5 to 10 feet) long. This is based on an immature individual, so adults might have been a bit larger.2

?What did Notatesseraeraptor eat?

It was a meat-eater. Scientists found the remains of its last meal inside its stomach: a jawbone from a small reptile called Clevosaurus.2 1

?When did Notatesseraeraptor live?

It lived during the Late Triassic Period, about 209 million years ago, in the latest part of the Norian stage. Its fossils were found in what is now Switzerland.1 2

?Was Notatesseraeraptor a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a theropod dinosaur, a meat-eating group that includes T. rex and birds. It was an early member of the neotheropods, related to Dilophosaurus.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Notatesseraeraptor
Named by: Zahner and Brinkmann 20193
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Neotheropoda3
Classification: Theropoda3
Age of the rocks: 227 to 206 million years (Norian)3
Rock formations: Klettgau3
Countries: Switzerland3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Notatesseraeraptor was named and described by scientists Marion Zahner and Winand Brinkmann in 2019. The fossils were found in 2006 in a clay pit near Frick, Switzerland, and include a nearly complete skull and parts of the body.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly where Notatesseraeraptor fits in the dinosaur family tree. It has a mix of features from both coelophysoids and dilophosaurids, so some think it might be an early dilophosaurid, while others place it closer to the group Averostra.2

Where the facts come from

Notatesseraeraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
A Triassic averostran-line theropod from Switzerland and the early evolution of dinosaurs (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Notatesseraeraptor in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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