Dinosaurs · Early dinosaur

Staurikosaurus

Say it stor-ik-oh-sore-us. The name means ‘Southern Cross lizard’.

Staurikosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of early dinosaurs

Length: 2 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Late Triassic227 to 221 million years ago
Fossils found in: Brazil
Named by: Colbert (1970)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Herrerasauridae

Where Staurikosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Early dinosaurs. Some of the first dinosaurs, from the Late Triassic. See all 3

Lived at the same time

Other early dinosaurs

Chindesaurus Late Triassic
Herrerasaurus Late Triassic

Source: Staurikosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.