Abrictosaurus (/əˌbrɪktəˈsɔːrəs/; "wakeful lizard") is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now in parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho and South Africa. It was a bipedal herbivore or omnivore and was one of the most basal heterodontosaurids. It was approximately 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long and weighed between 0.68 and 3 kilograms (1.5 and 6.6 lb).[1]
This dinosaur is known from the fossil remains of only two individuals, found in the Upper Elliot Formation of Qacha's Nek District in Lesotho and Cape Province in South Africa. The Upper Elliot is thought to date from the Hettangian and Sinemurian stages of the Early Jurassic Period, approximately 200 to 190 million years ago.[2] This formation is thought to preserve sand dunes as well as seasonal floodplains, in a semiarid environment with sporadic rainfall. Other dinosaurs found in this formation include the theropod Megapnosaurus, the sauropodomorph Massospondylus, as well as other heterodontosaurids like Heterodontosaurus and Lycorhinus. Remains of terrestrial crocodylomorphs, cynodonts and early mammals are also abundant.[3]
^Benson, Robert B. J.; Hunt, Gene; Carrano, Matthew T.; Campione, Nicolás (21 October 2017). "Cope's rule and the adaptive landscape of dinosaur body size evolution". Palaeontology. 61 (1): 13–48. doi:10.1111/pala.12329.
^Norman, D.B.; Sues, H-D.; Witmer, L.M.; Coria, R.A. (2004). "Basal Ornithopoda". In Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H.; Weishampel, W.B. (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 393–412. ISBN 9780520941434. OCLC 801843269.
^Weishampel, D.B.; Witmer, L.M. (1990). "Heterodontosauridae". In Osmólska, H.; Dodson, P.; Weishampel, W.B. (eds.). The Dinosauria. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 486–497. ISBN 9780520067264. OCLC 20670312.
of Abrictosaurus have been fully described in the literature. A tooth from the latest Triassic of Switzerland has been assigned to Abrictosaurus sp....
is known from a complete skeleton. Fragmentary skeletal remains of Abrictosaurus are known but have not been fully described, while most other heterodontosaurids...
Melanorosaurus, Massospondylus, Euskelosaurus, Heterodontosaurus, Abrictosaurus, and Lesothosaurus. In the Middle Jurassic, the sauropods Atlasaurus...
Laosaurus consors, a species of Othnielosaurus dinosaur Abrictosaurus consors, a species of Abrictosaurus dinosaur Crotalophorus consors, a synonym for the...
of Heterodontosaurus in 1975, and moved L. consors to its own genus, Abrictosaurus. Heterodontosaurus was a small dinosaur. The most complete skeleton...
canines and arched gaps in the front of the tooth row. Heterodontosaurus, Abrictosaurus and an undescribed form from the Kayenta Formation were also placed...
diverse fauna of early Jurassic ornithischian dinosaurs, including Abrictosaurus, Fabrosaurus, Heterodontosaurus, and Lesothosaurus, among others. The...
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