page_title: Herrerasaurus
section_title: Paleobiology
hierarchical_section_title: Herrerasaurus / Paleobiology
caption_attribution_description: English: Fossil of Herrerasaurus, an extinct dinosaur
context_page_description: Herrerasaurus was a genus of saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic period. This genus was one of the earliest dinosaurs from the fossil record. Its name means "Herrera's lizard", after the rancher who discovered the first specimen in 1958 in South America. All known fossils of this carnivore have been discovered in the Ischigualasto Formation of Carnian age in northwestern Argentina. The type species, Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, was described by Osvaldo Reig in 1963 and is the only species assigned to the genus. Ischisaurus and Frenguellisaurus are synonyms.
  For many years, the classification of Herrerasaurus was unclear because it was known from very fragmentary remains. It was hypothesized to be a basal theropod, a basal sauropodomorph, a basal saurischian, or not a dinosaur at all but another type of archosaur. However, with the discovery of an almost complete skeleton and skull in 1988, Herrerasaurus has been classified as either an early theropod or an early saurischian in at least five recent reviews of theropod evolution, with many researchers treating it at least tentatively as the most primitive member of Theropoda.
context_section_description: The teeth of Herrerasaurus indicate that it was a carnivore; its size indicates it would have preyed upon small and medium-sized plant eaters. These might have included other dinosaurs, such as Pisanosaurus, as well as the more plentiful rhynchosaurs and synapsids. Herrerasaurus itself may have been preyed upon by giant rauisuchids like Saurosuchus; puncture wounds were found in one skull.
  Coprolites (fossilized dung) containing small bones but no trace of plant fragments, discovered in the Ischigualasto Formation, have been assigned to Herrerasaurus based on fossil abundance. Mineralogical and chemical analysis of these coprolites indicates that if the referral to Herrerasaurus was correct, this carnivore could digest bone.
  Comparisons between the scleral rings of Herrerasaurus and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals.
  In a 2001 study conducted by Bruce Rothschild and other paleontologists, 12 hand bones and 20 foot bones referred to Herrerasaurus were examined for signs of stress fracture, but none were found.
  PVSJ 407, a Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, had a pit in a skull bone attributed by Paul Sereno and Novas to a bite. Two additional pits occurred on the splenial. The areas around these pits are swollen and porous, suggesting the wounds were afflicted by a short-lived non-lethal infection. Because of the size and angles of the wound, it is likely that they were obtained in a fight with another Herrerasaurus.
caption: Reconstructed skull in the Natural History Museum in Milan
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