One of the very first
It is among the oldest dinosaurs ever found.
The first dinosaurs · Theropods
Eoraptor
Dawn thief · EE-oh-RAP-tor
A small, light dinosaur about the size of a fox, with long hind legs and grasping hands.
- Size
- About 1m long; 10kg
- Lived
- About 231 to 228 million years ago
- Found in
- Argentina
Scampers after you. Move your pointer and see.
To scale
How big was it?
The bars are drawn to the same scale. On these pages the animals are sized in proportion to each other as far as a screen allows: the giants are shrunk a little and the smallest are enlarged, so that you can see them all.
Good to know
Six things about the eoraptor
Two kinds of teeth
It had sharp teeth at the back and leaf-shaped ones at the front, so it may have eaten plants as well as meat.
No bigger than a fox
The ancestors of the giants were this small.
Five fingers
Each hand had five fingers, though only three had claws. Later meat-eaters had fewer.
Valley of the Moon
It was found in a desert valley in Argentina famous for its early dinosaurs.
A family puzzle
Scientists still argue whether it is closer to the meat-eaters or to the long-necks.
The real thing
Photos of the eoraptor
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
What it ate
Probably anything it could catch or pick: insects, small animals and some plants.
How we know
An almost complete skeleton was found in 1991, which is rare for so old an animal.
Keep going
More from The first dinosaurs
‹ CoelophysisBack to The first dinosaursA to ZHerrerasaurus ›