DinoDex
Brown, lean early dinosaur running in side view with a long tail
Life reconstruction of Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis with speculative colouration, based on 2019 understanding of its anatomy.图片来源：PaleoNeolitic, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (unmodified except resizing)CC BY-SA 4.0（未修改）来源（在新标签页中打开）

Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis

读音： heh-RARE-ah-SORE-us ish-ee-GWAH-las-TEN-sis

Saurischia · Herrerasauridae

One of the earliest known dinosaurs, a two-legged predator from the Late Triassic of north-west Argentina, about 230 million years old. A complete skull found in 1988 showed it was an agile hunter with grasping hands.

  • Bipedal
  • Apex predator
对比
时代
三叠纪· 晚三叠世
食性
肉食性
体长
4.5–6 m
体重
200–350 kg
地点
San Juan Province, Argentina

快速问答

Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis有多大？
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis体长约4.5–6 m。髋部高约1–1.3 m。体重约200–350 kg。 (Wikipedia: Herrerasaurus 2026; Sereno & Novas 1992)
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis生活在什么时候？
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis生活在晚三叠世，约2.37亿至2.273亿年前。 (Paleobiology Database: Herrerasaurus occurrences 2026; Martinez et al. 2011)
在哪里发现过Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis的化石？
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis的化石发现于Ischigualasto Formation (San Juan Province)和Argentina。 (Reig 1963; Sereno & Novas 1992)
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis吃什么？
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis是肉食性。 (Reig 1963; Sereno & Novas 1992)
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis由谁命名，何时命名？
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis由Osvaldo A. Reig于1963年描述。 (Reig 1963; Paleobiology Database: Herrerasaurus occurrences 2026)

本页内容

时代
三叠纪237–227.3 Ma
食性
肉食性
体长
4.5–6 m
体重
0.2–0.4 t
产地
Argentina
分类
Saurischia · Herrerasauridae
命名
1963, Osvaldo A. Reig

概览

此内容目前仅提供英文版。

Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis lived about 230 million years ago in the Late Triassic, in the river valleys of what is now San Juan Province, Argentina. The goatherd Victorino Herrera noticed its bones in the Ischigualasto Valley in 1959, and Osvaldo Reig named it after him in 1963.

For decades it was known only from partial skeletons, and its place in the family tree was unclear. In 1988 a team led by Paul Sereno found a complete skull and skeleton; Sereno and Fernando Novas (1992) showed it was an agile, two-legged predator with short, grasping and raking forelimbs.

It lived at a time when dinosaurs were still rare. The Ischigualasto Formation records the first dinosaurs as dominant carnivores and small herbivores, alongside rhynchosaurs, cynodonts and large crocodile-line reptiles (Martinez et al. 2011).

名称含义

"Herrera's lizard", after Victorino Herrera, who found the first remains; ischigualastensis for the Ischigualasto Valley (Reig 1963).

生物学与证据

科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。

运动方式

  • Herrerasaurus was an agile two-legged predator with grasping hands.

    证据等级：有力证据

    Its complete skeleton shows long hind limbs and short arms with claws for grasping and raking.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 标本 · Complete Herrerasaurus skull and skeleton

      A complete skull and skeleton found in 1988, showing a bipedal predator with short forelimbs specialised for grasping and raking.

其他

  • Herrerasaurus was an early theropod.

    证据等级：有争议

    Sereno and Novas called it a primitive theropod; other analyses place herrerasaurids just outside the theropods or outside the saurischian split.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 标本 · Complete Herrerasaurus skull and skeleton

      A complete skull and skeleton found in 1988, showing a bipedal predator with short forelimbs specialised for grasping and raking.

  • Herrerasaurus is one of the oldest known dinosaurs, about 230 million years old.

    证据等级：有力证据

    Its rocks are dated by radiometric methods to the mid Carnian of the Late Triassic, among the earliest records of dinosaurs anywhere.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 其他 · Ischigualasto faunal record and radiometric ages

      Biozones and 40Ar/39Ar ages bracketing the Ischigualasto Formation, showing early dinosaurs as dominant carnivores about 230 million years ago.

体型

体长
4.5–6 m

（19.7 英尺）

身高
1.1 m文献范围 1–1.3 m

（3.6 英尺）

依据 largest individuals (femora c. 0.47 m)

体重
200–350 kg
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis 体长约 6 米（19.7 英尺），约为身高 1.8 米的成年人的 3.3 倍。

时间线

生活在约 237 至 227.3 百万年前（Ma），属于中生代（252–66 Ma）。

时代： 晚三叠世 (237–201.4 Ma), 三叠纪 (251.9–201.4 Ma)

Carnian bounds of the type collection in PBDB (PBDB time scale). Martinez et al. (2011) bracket the formation with 40Ar/39Ar ages and place its early dinosaurs about 230 million years ago (mid Carnian).

产地

地层

地图数据：Natural Earth（公有领域）。显示的是现代位置，而非当时大陆的位置。

这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。

生态系统

生活于： Ischigualasto

231.7–225 百万年前 · 泛滥平原, 河流水系

Late Triassic river floodplains of north-west Argentina with cool temperatures and strongly seasonal rainfall; the earliest dinosaurs lived among rhynchosaurs, cynodonts and crocodile-line reptiles.

分类

  1. 演化支Dinosauria
  2. 演化支Saurischia
  3. 科Herrerasauridae
  4. 属Herrerasaurus
  5. 种Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis

分类地位： 有效

化石记录

Herrerasaurus skeleton at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.图片来源：Zissoudisctrucker, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (unmodified except resizing), Field Museum of Natural HistoryCC BY-SA 4.0（未修改）来源（在新标签页中打开）
标本
编号类型收藏机构发现年份
PVL 2566正模标本Instituto Miguel Lillo (PVL)1959

尚未记录每件标本保存了哪些骨骼。

Skull of Herrerasaurus PVSJ 407 in left lateral view and maxilla PVSJ 053, from Alcober & Martinez (2010).图片来源：Oscar Alcober, Ricardo Martinez, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 3.0来源（在新标签页中打开）

全部标本

发现

命名年份
1963
命名者
Osvaldo A. Reig
模式标本
PVL 2566

发现时间线

  1. 1959 · 首次发现材料

    Victorino Herrera finds bones in the Ischigualasto Valley

    A goatherd notices dinosaur bones near San Juan.

    人物：Victorino Herrera

  2. 1963 · 正式命名

    Reig names Herrerasaurus

    Osvaldo Reig names the dinosaur after its finder.

    人物：Osvaldo A. Reig

  3. 1988 · 标本出土

    Complete Herrerasaurus skull found

    A team led by Paul Sereno finds a complete skull and skeleton, described in 1992.

    人物：Paul C. Sereno, Fernando E. Novas

参考文献

  1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Herrerasaurus occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Herrerasaurus&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates（在新标签页中打开）
  2. (2026). Wikipedia: Herrerasaurus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrerasaurus（在新标签页中打开）
  3. Martinez, R. N., Sereno, P. C., Alcober, O. A., Colombi, C. E., Renne, P. R., Montañez, I. P. & Currie, B. S. (2011). A basal dinosaur from the dawn of the dinosaur era in southwestern Pangaea. Science 331: 206-210. doi:10.1126/science.1198467（在新标签页中打开）
  4. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
  5. Reig, O. A. (1963). La presencia de dinosaurios saurisquios en los "Estratos de Ischigualasto" (Mesotriásico Superior) de las provincias de San Juan y La Rioja (República Argentina). Ameghiniana.
  6. Sereno, P. C. & Novas, F. E. (1992). The complete skull and skeleton of an early dinosaur. Science 258: 1137-1140. doi:10.1126/science.258.5085.1137（在新标签页中打开）