Abrictosaurus consors

When originally described as a species of Lycorhinus, the holotype fossil was thought to belong to a female because of the lack of tusk (thus the species name 'consors'). Richard Thulborn also thought that the animal had aestivation cycles. Hopson who did not believe in this theory renamed the genus Abrictosaurus (wakeful lizard).

Name

Abrictosaurus consors

Authority

(Thulborn, 1974)

Meaning of generic name

"Wakeful lizard".

Meaning of specific name

spouse.

Size

Body length: 1.2 m, Skull length: ?

Remains

Holotype (UCL B54): partial skull and skeleton

Referred specimens: UCL A100 (fragmentary skull from S. Africa, holotype of Lycorhinus angustidens)

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Upper Elliot Formation. Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian)

Locality: Noosi, Qacha's Nek District , Lesotho. Also, Cape province, South Africa.

Classification

Dinosauria Ornithischia Heterodontosauridae

Further Reading

R. A. Thulborn. 1974. A new heterodontosaurid dinosaur (Reptilia: Ornithischia) from the Upper Triassic red beds of Lesotho. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 55:151-175.

J. A. Hopson. 1975. On the generic separation of the ornithischian dinosaurs Lycorhinus and Heterodontosaurus from the Stormberg Series (Upper Triassic) of South Africa. South African Journal of Science 71:302-305.

Synonyms

Lycorhinus consors Thulborn, 1974; Lycorhinus angustidens Thulborn, 1970