ANATOMY
Eoraptor was a small, lightly-built dinosaur that walked on two long legs. It was about 3 feet long (1 m); it had light, hollow bones, a long head with dozens of small, sharp teeth, and five fingers on its grasping hands (two of the fingers on each hand were very small).

WHEN EORAPTOR LIVED
Eoraptor lived during the late Triassic period, roughly 228 million years ago. It is one of the oldest dinosaurs yet found.

DIET
Eoraptor was a carnivore, a meat eater. It may also have been a scavenger.

LOCOMOTION
Eoraptor walked on two legs and was a relatively fast runner. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized trackways.

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Eoraptor means "dawn thief." It was first found by Ricardo Martinez in 1991 in Argentina, South America, in the Ischigualasto Basin. This area was a river valley during the late Triassic period but is a dry, eroding desert badlands today. Eoraptor was found in the same rock formation that yielded Herrerasaurus, another very early theropod. Three specimens have been found, all in the Ischigualasto Basin. Eoraptor was named by paleontologists P. Sereno, Forster, Rogers, and Monetta in 1993.

EORAPTOR ACTIVITIES

• An Eoraptor information page to print and color.
• Print out a K-3 level Eoraptor page to color!
• A brief Eoraptor fact sheet or a printable version of the fact sheet
• A first-grade level Eoraptor subtraction activity print-out.
• A quiz about Eoraptor - Unscramble the answers and see how much you know this early dinosaur! For grades 2-3.