Tawa hallae

Tawa hallae; Temporal range: Late Triassic,
	Life restoration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda (?)
Genus:	†Tawa; Nesbitt et al., 2009
Species:	†T. hallae
Binomial name
	†Tawa hallae; Nesbitt et al., 2009

Tawa (named after the Hopi word for the Puebloan sun god) is a genus of possible basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic period.^[1] The fossil remains of Tawa hallae, the type and only species were found in the Hayden Quarry of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, US. Its discovery alongside the relatives of Coelophysis and Herrerasaurus supports the hypothesis that the earliest dinosaurs arose in Gondwana during the early Late Triassic period in what is now South America, and radiated from there around the globe.^[2] The specific name honours Ruth Hall, founder of the Ghost Ranch Museum of Paleontology.^[3]

^ Maffly, Brian (December 10, 2009), "New Mexico find sheds light on early dinosaur dispersal", Salt Lake Tribune, archived from the original on December 13, 2009
^ "New T. Rex Cousin Suggests Dinosaurs Arose in S. America", National Geographic, December 10, 2009, archived from the original on December 13, 2009
^ Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Smith, Nathan D.; Irmis, Randall B.; Turner, Alan H.; Downs, Alex; Norell, Mark A. (11 December 2009). "A Complete Skeleton of a Late Triassic Saurischian and the Early Evolution of Dinosaurs". Science. 326 (5959): 1530–1533. Bibcode:2009Sci...326.1530N. doi:10.1126/science.1180350. PMID 20007898. S2CID 8349110.

[1] Maffly, Brian (December 10, 2009), "New Mexico find sheds light on early dinosaur dispersal", Salt Lake Tribune, archived from the original on December 13, 2009

[2] "New T. Rex Cousin Suggests Dinosaurs Arose in S. America", National Geographic, December 10, 2009, archived from the original on December 13, 2009

[Nesbittetal2009-3] Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Smith, Nathan D.; Irmis, Randall B.; Turner, Alan H.; Downs, Alex; Norell, Mark A. (11 December 2009). "A Complete Skeleton of a Late Triassic Saurischian and the Early Evolution of Dinosaurs". Science. 326 (5959): 1530–1533. Bibcode:2009Sci...326.1530N. doi:10.1126/science.1180350. PMID 20007898. S2CID 8349110.

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