Dinosaurs A to Z
Plateosauridae

Unaysaurus

"black water"

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Unaysaurus 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic sauropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Unaysaurus
Length
2.5 m (8.2 ft)
Period
Late Triassic (225.42 Mya)
Place
Brazil · Germany
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Plateosauridae Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Triassic-Jurassic prosauropods, ancestors to giant sauropods.

Unaysaurus is a genus of herbivorous unaysaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur. Discovered in southern Brazil, in the geopark of Paleorrota, in 1998, and announced in a press conference on Thursday, December 3, 2004, it is one of the oldest dinosaurs known. It is closely related to plateosaurid dinosaurs found in Germany, which indicates that it was relatively easy for species to spread across the giant landmass of the time, the supercontinent of Pangaea. The fossils of Unaysaurus are well-preserved. They consist of an almost complete skull, including a lower jaw, and partial skeleton with many of the bones still connected to each other in their natural positions. It is one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons (including complete skull) ever recovered in Brazil.

What we know

  • Named by Leal et al., 2004.
  • Body length estimated at about 2.5 m.
  • Fossils found in Brazil and Germany.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Unaysaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.