Huayracursor

Huayracursor (lit. 'wind runner') is an extinct genus of early sauropodomorph dinosaurs known from the Late Triassic (Carnian age) Santo Domingo Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Huayracursor jaguensis, known from a partial articulated skeleton.^[1]

Huayracursor Temporal range: Late Triassic, late Carnian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Speculative life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Bagualosauria
Genus:	†Huayracursor Hechenleitner et al., 2025
Species:	†H. jaguensis
Binomial name
†Huayracursor jaguensis Hechenleitner et al., 2025

Discovery and naming

The Huayracursor holotype specimen, CRILAR-Pv 151, was discovered in outcrops of the Santo Domingo Formation near Vinchina in La Rioja Province, Argentina. The specimen consists of a nearly complete skeleton, including cranial remains, found in articulation.^[1]

In 2025, Hechenleitner and colleagues described Huayracursor jaguensis as a new genus and species of sauropodomorph dinosaur based on these fossil remains. The generic name, Huayracursor, Quechua word huayra, meaning "wind", with the Latin word cursor, meaning "runner". The specific name, jaguensis, references the Jagüé village.^[1]

Classification

In their 2025 phylogenetic analysis, Hechenleitner and colleagues recovered Huayracursor as an early-diverging member of the Sauropodomorpha. Their results placed Huayracursor, as the sister taxon to Bagualosaurus, as the earliest branch of the more inclusive clade Bagualosauria. These results are displayed in the cladogram below:^[1]

Sauropodomorpha	Buriolestes Eoraptor Pampadromaeus Panphagia Chromogisaurus Saturnalia Nhandumirim Guaibasaurus Bagualosauria Huayracursor Bagualosaurus Nambalia Pantydraco Thecodontosaurus other post-Carnian sauropodomorphs