Gnathovorax

Gnathovorax is a genus of herrerasaurid saurischian dinosaur from the Santa Maria Formation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The type and only species is Gnathovorax cabreirai, described by Pacheco et al. in 2019. The type specimen comprises a mostly complete and well-preserved articulated skeleton (considered one of the best herrerasaurid skeletons ever discovered), which fossilized in close association with rhynchosaur and cynodont remains. The discovery of this superb specimen has shed light onto poorly understood aspects of herrerasaurid anatomy such as endocranial soft tissues.

== Discovery == left|thumb|Location and fauna of the Marchezan site The holotype specimen, CAPPA/UFSM 0009, is an almost complete and partially articulated skeleton, lacking only portions of the left shoulder girdle and left forelimb. It was found in 2014 at the Marchezan site, in the municipality of São João do Polêsine, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This locality preserved rocks from Santa Maria Formation in the Candelária Sequence of the Paraná Basin. The skeleton was fossilized within a mudstone layer, along with small articulated skeletons of prozostrodont cynodonts. This mudstone layer was then covered by a layer of sandstone containing disarticulated rhynchosaur remains. These fossil remains are indicative of a diverse community of animals at Marchezan. Stratigraphically correlated beds from a nearby site were dated as the middle of the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic, circa 233.23 ± 0.73 million years ago.