Tawa

Name meaning:

The Sun god of the Pueblo Indians

Period of life:

215 mya

Period:

Triassic period

Habitat:

Floodplains

Taxonomy:

Theropods

Countries:

Liliensternus

Riojasaurus

Tawa ()

«Tawa» - the name of the Sun god of the Pueblo peoples.

Tawa was one of the earliest known theropods to inhabit the southern part of what is now North America. This small predator reached about 2 metres in length and weighed only 15 kilograms — roughly the size of a large dog. Despite its modest size, Tawa was an agile and fast hunter.

At the time when Tawa lived, the area of the modern Hayden Quarry lay close to the equator. The climate was hot and continental, with wet seasons of heavy rain alternating with periods of drought. The landscape was crossed by a network of rivers, along whose banks grew giant trees — Araucarioxylon. Over time, their trunks turned to stone and today adorn the famous Petrified Forest National Park. Life flourished along the waterways: horsetails and ferns grew thickly, herbivorous animals grazed, and predators hunted. It was within this rich ecosystem that Tawa lived — a small dinosaur forced to struggle for survival among many competitors.

Tawa’s body was slender and lightweight. It had a long neck, an extended tail, and thin but powerful hind legs — everything needed for speed and manoeuvrability. A narrow head with sharp teeth allowed the theropod to tear prey into pieces. Judging by the structure of its skeleton, Tawa probably fed on small reptiles and insects, hunting with short, rapid bursts.

The first fossils of Tawa were discovered in 2004 at Hayden Quarry, near Ghost Ranch in the state of New Mexico. Full-scale excavations began two years later, in 2006. Fortune favoured the palaeontologists: to their delight, they found an almost complete skeleton. The bones were exceptionally well preserved and had not been distorted by pressure from the surrounding rock — a rare stroke of luck for such ancient remains.

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