Deviation Actions
Description
Ahvaytum is the first new dinosaur announced in 2025! Despite the very fragmentary nature of the assigned fossil material, it has some notable implications. Originally suggested to be a theropod in a 2020 conference abstract, further research supported a position as a basal sauropodomorph, closely related to Eoraptor, Buriolestes, and Mbiresaurus. Ahvaytum is one of the oldest dinosaurs known from Laurasia, as well as one of the only Triassic sauropodomorphs named from North America. This indicates that, contrary to prior popular belief, dinosaurs were reasonably widely dispersed by the middle of the Triassic (~230 million years ago). Unfortunately, the limited material restricts detailed anatomical discussion; the holotype is a single left astragalus, with an otherwise indeterminate proximal left femur referred due to its proximity to the holotype. What can be said is that the bones belongs to a very small (albeit not juvenile) animal, likely smaller than its aforementioned relatives.
Incidently, my estimates place Ahvaytum as almost identical in size to the equally fragmentary but scientifically important Chinese ornithischian Archaeocursor (the last novel dinosaur genus announced in 2024, formally published in 2025).
Scale bar=10 cm.
The description paper can be found here.