Herrerasaurus was one of the earliest dinosaurs. Its name means "Herrera's lizard", after Victorino Herrera, a goatherd who discovered the first specimen. All known fossils of Herrerasaurus have been discovered in northwestern Argentina in rocks dated to 231.4 million years ago. It was a lightly built bipedal carnivore with a long tail and a relatively small head. Its length is estimated at 3–6 meters (10–20 ft) and it may have weighed around 210–350 kilograms (463–772 lb). The type species, Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, was described by Osvaldo Reig in 1963 and is the only species assigned to the genus. Where Herrerasaurus and its close relatives lie on the early dinosaur evolutionary tree is unclear. For many years, it was known from very fragmentary remains. However, with the discovery of an almost complete skeleton and skull in 1988, Herrerasaurus has been classified as either an early theropod or an early saurischian, with many researchers treating it at least tentatively as the most primitive member of Theropoda. It is a member of the Herrerasauridae, a family of similar genera that were among the earliest of the dinosaurian evolutionary radiation.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrerasaurus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1604:
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed an exceptionally bright star, now known as Kepler's Supernova (remnant nebula pictured), which had suddenly appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_Supernova
1943:
The Holocaust: Three days after a successful revolt by inmates, Sobibor extermination camp in eastern Poland was closed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobibor_extermination_camp
1956:
Queen Elizabeth II opened the world's first commercial nuclear power plant at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield
1992:
Having gone to the wrong house for a Halloween party, Japanese exchange student Yoshihiro Hattori was shot and killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori
2010:
Mary MacKillop was canonised to become the only Australian to be recognised by the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_MacKillop
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sine qua non: An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sine_qua_non
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The job is to ask questions — it always was — and to ask them as inexorably as I can. And to face the absence of precise answers with a certain humility. --Arthur Miller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller
daily-article-l@lists.wikimedia.org