Magic dragon is a medium-sized theropod dinosaur. An adult's skull is about 45 cm long, and it is believed that the length from nose to tail is about 4 meters. Similar to other theropod dinosaurs, magic dragon walked with his hind legs and his forelimbs were used to catch prey. There is a small gap between the teeth and the front of the maxilla and the maxilla, while the talus and calcaneus of the ankle are connected.

There are two small crowns on the skull, similar to Liang Long and Ankylosaurus, both of which are theropods. These crowns are mainly composed of nasal bones, which are different from the torn bones of other theropods. The crown on the skull is very common in theropods and may be used for communication, such as identifying the same genus or species. However, many recent head and skull studies have pointed out whether the dragon has these crowns. It is pointed out that these crowns are actually torn bones that move forward in the process of fossilization.

The name of the genus Alcatraz comes from the Quechua word "devil", which means "devil lizard". Its model species is Z. rougieri, in memory of Guillermo rougier, who led the expedition to find its completed model specimens. Argentine paleontologists Andrea Arcucci and Rudolf Corea first described the dragon in 2003.

The demon dragon was originally classified as the earliest known cephalosaurus because of several characteristics of its skull and hind feet. But the original researchers also noticed that the dragon had several typical characteristics of the basic theropod dinosaur. More studies also agree with the latter, so the devil dragon is classified as coelenterate, which is related to bones and Liang Long. This group of animals may be more primitive than another biota, including Li Erlong, Ankylosaurus and coelenteratus. In 2006, some scholars established Alcatraz, Liang Long and Araliaceae as another family in the monophyletic system, called Liang Long.

At present, there is only one known Devil Dragon fossil, numbered PULR-076. It consists of an almost complete skull, right shoulder strap, lower part of right foot and ankle, and twelve spines from neck to back to buttocks. In addition, a smaller part was found in the same place, but it is not clear whether it belongs to the dragon. Both specimens are kept in the National Museum of la rioja, la rioja.

The Devil Dragon was found in the stratum of Los Corollados, la rioja. This stratum is generally considered to be the Nolik Stage of the Late Triassic (216-203 million years ago), but it is still classified as the Late Retitian (about 203-200 million years ago). At the same time, several early sauropods were found in this stratum, including Rio Halon, Colorado Si Long and Leisenlong.