Name means: "Herrera's lizard," after Argentine rancher Don Victorino Herrera.
Classification: Saurischia, Theropoda, Herrerasauridae
Length: 16.5 ft. (5 m)
Time: Late Triassic, 225 million years ago
Place: Argentina
Diet: Meat
Details: Probably the earliest known theropod, Herrerasaurus was much more primitive than later predators. The largest of the early meat-eating dinosaurs, it may have weighed about 400 pounds (181 kilograms). Double-hinged jaws allowed Herrerasaurus to grip its prey and to swallow huge chunks of meat. Serrated teeth helped it slice the flesh from a fresh kill. Evidence of its primitive nature includes such anatomical features as the rectangular shape of its nearly complete skull fossil.
