Lesothosaurus diagnosticus

Lesothosaurus was a small basal ornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic of Lesotho and South Africa. It has been suggested to be either a primitive thyreophorean or a basal member of the Neoornithischia (Ceratopsians, Ornithopods and Pachycephalosaurs). A recent ontogenic study by Knoll et al. (2010) indicates that Stormbergia might be the adult form of Lesothosaurus, which would then have reached a length of 2 meters.

Name

Lesothosaurus diagnosticus

Authority

Galton, 1978

Meaning of generic name

"Lesotho lizard".

Size

Body length: 1 m, Skull length: ?

Remains

Holotype (BMNH RU (UCL) B17): skull

Referred specimens: BMNH RU B 23 (juvenile skull), BMNH R 11956, BMNH R11004, BMNH R8501, SAM-PK-K400 , SAM-PK-K401, SAM-PK-1106, SAM-PK-K1105 (holotype of Stormbergia dangershoeki); BMNH R11000 (Stormbergia dangershoeki), BP/1/4885 (Stormbergia dangershoeki)

Age and Distribution

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

Locality: north flank, Likhoele Mountain, Mafetang district, Lesotho.

Classification

Dinosauria Ornithischia Lesothosauridae

Further Reading

P. M. Galton. 1978. Fabrosauridae, the basal family of ornithischian dinosaurs (Reptilia: Ornithischia). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 52(1/2):138-159.

P. C. Sereno. 1991. Lesothosaurus, "fabrosaurids," and the early evolution of Ornithischia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11(2):168-197

R. J. Butler. 2005. The 'fabrosaurid' ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145(2):175-218.

F. Knoll, K. Padian, K.; and A. de Ricqles, 2010. Ontogenetic change and adult body size of the early ornithischian dinosaur Lesothosaurus diagnosticus: implications for basal ornithischian taxonomy. Gondwana Research

Synonyms

Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler, 2005