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Pampadromaeus

Say it: PAM-pa-dro-MAY-us

Name means: “plain runner”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Triassic

Pampadromaeus was a small, fast runner that lived in Brazil during the Late Triassic, about 233 million years ago. It was an early relative of the huge long-necked sauropods, but it was much smaller and could run on two legs.1 2

Lived

237 to 227 million years ago3

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil1 2

Food

Plants1

Length

1.5 m2

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 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to end

How big was Pampadromaeus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Pampadromaeus had 88 teeth in total, with 4 in each premaxilla and about 20 in each upper jaw and lower jaw.1

Its lower leg was much longer than its thighbone, which shows it was a fast runner.1

The name Pampadromaeus comes from the Quechua word for 'plain' and the Greek word for 'runner', because it lived in an open landscape and could run quickly.1

Pampadromaeus had some traits similar to theropod dinosaurs, like a gap between the premaxilla and maxilla bones, and front teeth without serrations.1

This dinosaur is known from a single partial skeleton that includes most of the skull, many vertebrae, and parts of the limbs.1 2

Pampadromaeus lived around 233 million years ago, making it one of the earliest dinosaurs ever found.1 2

AI-made picture of Pampadromaeus — An AI-made picture of how Pampadromaeus 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 Pampadromaeus

?How big was Pampadromaeus?

Pampadromaeus was a small dinosaur, about 1.5 metres (5 feet) long.2

?What did Pampadromaeus eat?

Its teeth were large, pointed and serrated, which suggests it ate meat or plants. Scientists are not completely sure, but it is an early relative of long-necked sauropods.1

?When did Pampadromaeus live?

It lived during the Late Triassic, about 233 million years ago, in what is now Brazil.1 2

?Was Pampadromaeus a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a small, bipedal dinosaur and an early relative of the long-necked sauropods.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Pampadromaeus
Named by: Cabreira et al. 20113
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Saturnaliidae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha3
Age of the rocks: 237 to 227 million years (Carnian)3
Rock formations: Santa Maria3
Countries: Brazil3
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Pampadromaeus was named in 2011 by Sergio F. Cabreira and a team of paleontologists. The skeleton was found at the Janner site in Agudo, Brazil.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure how Pampadromaeus is related to other early sauropodomorphs; it might belong to the family Saturnaliidae.2

Where the facts come from

Pampadromaeus (en.wikipedia.org)
Anatomy of the dinosaur Pampadromaeus barberenai (Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
Pampadromaeus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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