Tawa, named after the Hopi term for the Puebloan sun god, is a genus that potentially belongs to the basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic epoch. The remains of Tawa hallae, its sole and type species, were unearthed in the Hayden Quarry at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, United States. The discovery of Tawa alongside relatives like Coelophysis and Herrerasaurus lends support to the theory suggesting that the earliest dinosaurs originated in Gondwana during the early Late Triassic period, which was located in present-day South America. From there, they dispersed across the world.

Tawa, when fully grown, is estimated to have reached a length of about 2.5 meters (8 feet 2 inches) and weighed approximately 15 kilograms (33 pounds). Its physical characteristics exhibit similarities to various dinosaur groups. The shape of its skull resembles that of coelophysoids, while its ilium bone is somewhat akin to that of herrerasaurids. Much like coelophysoids, Tawa features a slight bend in its upper jaws, positioned between the maxilla and the premaxilla. In terms of limb proportions, its femur is notably longer compared to the tibia.

One distinctive feature observed in Tawa's neck vertebrae suggests that air sacs in the neck likely existed before the emergence of Neotheropoda, potentially representing an ancestral trait among saurischians and connecting dinosaurs to the evolution of birds. When contrasted with earlier dinosaurs like Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor, Tawa displayed a relatively slender physique.