Fun Tawa Facts For Kids

The Tawa hallae dinosaur belongs to the Theropoda genus and lived during the Late Triassic period. The name of this dinosaur was named after the word Hopi, which is a native language of the American tribe for the Puebloan Sun God.

The Tawa hallae fossil remains were discovered in Hayden Quarry of the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, the USA, in 2004. There is only specimen ever excavated for this species. The specific name of the dinosaur was named by Ruth Hall, the Ghost Ranch Museum of Paleontology's founder in New Mexico.

This quarry in Mexico belonged in the lower part of the Petrified Forest Member of the Chinle Formation in Mexico. It was because of the excavation of Tawa and dinosaurs its related to like the Coelophysis and Herrarasaurus, that researchers could support the theory of the earliest dinosaurs arising in the Gondwana through the Late Triassic period, in the present-day area of South America and moved to North America several times and moved to more northern parts more too.

Scroll down to read about the Tawa hallae's life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Tawa, our content is available on the Xiaotingia and Leptorhynchos.

How do you pronounce 'Tawa'?

The name of this dinosaur species can be called Ta-Wa. The specific name needs to be called Ha-la.

What type of dinosaur was a Tawa?

The Tawa hallae dinosaur belongs to the Theropoda genus and lived during the Late Triassic period. It was a meat-eating dinosaur and inhabited the present-day areas of New Mexico. It also belonged to the Saurischia order, and it had a different hip structure.

In which geological period did the Tawa roam the earth?

The Tawa lived during the Late Triassic period.

When did the Tawa become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, that is, at the end of the Cretaceous time period, after living on the earth for about 165 million years. These species lived during the Late Triassic period, which was about 201-237 million years ago.

Where did a Tawa live?

The Ghost Ranch was located close to the equator about 200 million years ago and had a warm, monsoon-like climate with heavy seasonal precipitation during that time. The Tawa hallae fossils were discovered in this area, which confirms that they inhabited terrestrial areas which had warm and monsoon-like weather.

What was a Tawa's habitat?

The dinosaur was believed to have inhabited the areas of Mexico as the fossils were found there. It was also because of the excavation of Tawa fossils that researchers could support the hypothesis of the earliest dinosaurs that existed in Gondwana in the Late Triassic period, in the present-day area of South America, and moved to North America several times and moved to more northern parts more too.

Who did a Tawa live with?

This dinosaur lived with their related breed or medium-sized dinosaurs that were carnivores as well. They lived in groups or herds in order to prey easily and also to protect themselves from bigger predators.

How long did a Tawa live?

There isn't a definite time frame of this species's life span, but it is speculated that, like other theropods, they survived for about 10-20 years.

How did they reproduce?

These Theropoda dinosaurs, much like other reptiles, mated with each other during the breeding season, and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. The eggs hatched after a certain period of time, and newborn dinosaurs come out. The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns till they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

What did a Tawa look like?

This species had a mixture of characteristics from different related dinosaur breeds. The skull of this dinosaur resembled its related species Coelophysoids, and large principal bones that constitute half the pelvis was similar to that of Herrerasaurid. The Tawa had a kink in the upper jaw between the cranial bones in the upper jaw.

The femur was extremely long, and the shin bone compared to it was quite small. Its neck vertebrae adaptation made researchers assume and analyze that it might have been an evolution from dinosaur birds. Unlike other related dinosaurs, the Tawa had a slender body and moderate tail.

How many bones did a Tawa have?

Due to fewer fossils being excavated, there is very little information on the skeleton of the species. The only thing to be found of this species is the skull region and half the skeleton.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention of how they communicated as it is quite difficult to find, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, dinosaurs also communicated by making sounds and using their body language. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate. Being ravenous predators, the Tawa dinosaur scale was quite high-pitched growl, and it also helped to call for help during hunting.

How big was a Tawa?

This species was about 98 in (2.5 m) in length, which makes it about two times smaller than the red kangaroo that is 118.1 in (3 m) in length.

How fast could a Tawa move?

There isn't any data on the speed of the Tawa, but if assumed, theropods are known to be fast sprinters.

How much did a Tawa weigh?

This species weighed about 33 lb (15 kg), which makes it about three times lighter than the brown hyena that weighs 84-97 lb (38.1-44 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for the male or female dinosaurs of this species and are commonly known as Tawa or Tawa hallae.

What would you call a baby Tawa?

The newborn dinosaur was known as hatchling or nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species.

What did they eat?

Their diet consisted mainly of smaller herbivorous dinosaurs and even smaller carnivorous dinosaurs. They were quite ravenous and would prey on same-sized or smaller dinosaurs.

How aggressive were they?

Theropods who are carnivores and their diet consist of meat tend to be more aggressive. They weren't as large as other carnivorous Saurischia dinosaurs but were smart and could run well and attack well.

Did you know...

Tawa fossils were discovered in 2004, but in fact, the species was described by six American paleontologists in the year 2009 from the American Museum of Natural History.

Tawa dinosaur is believed to have feathers on its body.

What does the name 'Tawa' mean?

The Tawa dinosaur was known by this name as it was kept after the Hopi word, which is a native language of the American tribe for the Puebloan Sun God.

Where was Tawa found?

The Tawa hallae was discovered in the Hayden Quarry of the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, USA. There is only specimen ever excavated for this species. They habited areas of present time South America and moved to the northern sides as well.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Metriorhynchus interesting facts or Yinlong facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable connect the dots dinosaur coloring pages.

Both images by Conty.