All Images
News Release 09-236
Newly Discovered Dinosaur Illuminates Ancient Lineage
Pristine skeletons of carnivorous Tawa hallae shed light on early days of dinosaur evolution
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
A reconstruction of the newly discovered Triassic, carnivorous dinosaur, Tawa hallae.
Credit: ©Artwork by Jorge Gonzalez.
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1.2 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
A team of paleontologists unearths an ancient, meat-eating dinosaur in this audio slideshow.
Credit: Kai McConnell, National Science Foundation
Sterling Nesbitt of the University of Texas at Austin discusses a brand new dinosaur unearthed at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
Credit: National Science Foundation and University of Texas at Austin
Based on an analysis of how Tawa relates to other early dinosaurs, researchers hypothesize that dinosaurs originated in what is now South America, and soon after diverged into ornithischians (like Triceratops), sauropodomorphs (like Apatosaurus) and theropods (like Tyrannosaurus rex), before dispersing across the Triassic world more than 220 million years ago. The theropods evolved into modern-day birds, although Tawa split off from the ancestral branch early on and was not a direct bird ancestor.
Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (799 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
A reconstruction of the Tawa hallae skeleton.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (601 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
A reconstruction of the head of the newly discovered Triassic, carnivorous dinosaur, Tawa hallae.
Credit: ©Artwork by Jorge Gonzalez.
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (9.2 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
This reconstruction depicts the evolutionary relationships between Tawa (top left) and two other Triassic carnivorous dinosaurs, Herrerasaurus (bottom left) and Coelophysis (top right). In the lower left corner is a depiction of the Late Triassic globe.
Credit: ©Artwork by Jorge Gonzalez.
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (5.3 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
The complete right hand of Tawa hallae.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Co-authors Nathan Smith and Sterling Nesbitt dig for fossils at the Ghost Ranch dig site in New Mexico.
Credit: David Clark, Dinosaur Hunters LLC
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (2.8 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Co-authors Sterling Nesbitt, Nathan Smith, Alan Turner and Randall Irmis were filmed for the NSF-supported IMAX film Dinosaurs Alive! The scene above was captured soon after the paleontologists had wrapped a block of sediment containing Tawa fossils in preparation for transport to the American Museum of Natural History.
Credit: David Clark, Dinosaur Hunters LLC
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (4.3 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
The cliffs west of Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (2.6 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
The researchers' finding appear in the December 11, 2009 issue of the journal Science.
Credit: Copyright 2009 AAAS
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (458 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.