Tawa hallae Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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Life restoration | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda (?) |
Genus: | โ Tawa Nesbitt et al., 2009 |
Species: | †T. hallae
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Binomial name | |
†Tawa hallae Nesbitt et al., 2009
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Tawa (named after the Hopi word for the Puebloan sun god) is a genus of possible basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic period.[1] The fossil remains of Tawa hallae, the type and only species were found in the Hayden Quarry of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, US. Its discovery alongside the relatives of Coelophysis and Herrerasaurus supports the hypothesis that the earliest dinosaurs arose in Gondwana during the early Late Triassic period in what is now South America, and radiated from there around the globe.[2] The specific name honours Ruth Hall, founder of the Ghost Ranch Museum of Paleontology.[3]