Abrictosaurus
From Greek roots meaning 'wakeful lizard'; 'abriktos' relates to wakefulness and 'sauros' means 'lizard'.
Abrictosaurus 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 meters (3.9 ft) long and weighed less than 45 kilograms (99 lb).
Diagnosis
- Lower cheek teeth with relatively symmetrical crowns, narrow basal cingula, and slender, unswollen roots that are well set off from the crowns
- Middle vertical ridge of the cheek-tooth crown lying centrally on the external face, with anterior and posterior ridges of about equal prominence
- Caniniform teeth absent in the type (a presumed female); where present in the referred specimen, the lower caniniform is serrated on the anterior cutting edge only
- Lateral face of the maxilla vertically concave, without a longitudinal ridge
- Mandible lacking a lateral fenestra, with dentaries inflated anteriorly
Species
Abrictosaurus consors (Thulborn, 1974)
Type species
First named as Lycorhinus consors
From Latin 'consors' meaning 'companion' or 'spouse', applied by Richard Thulborn in 1974 under the belief that the specimen represented a female heterodontosaurid.
- Holotype
- NHMUK PV RU B 54 , Natural History Museum
- Material
- Skull with full dentition and a partial, only partly-prepared postcranial skeleton, including four unfused sacral vertebrae, forelimb and manus, femur, metatarsals, and pes
- Horizon
- upper Elliot Formation, Hettangian–Sinemurian, Early Jurassic , 201.4–192.9 million years ago
- Locality
- Noosi, Qacha's Nek, Lesotho
Synonyms
-
Lycorhinus consors reassigned
Originally described as Lycorhinus consors by Thulborn (1974); Hopson (1975) erected Abrictosaurus for the species.
References
-
Sereno, P. C. (2012). Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs. ZooKeys 226: 1-225. Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.3897/zookeys.226.2840
Gives the type locality as "S30°03', E28°32'".
sereno2012a -
Norman, D. B.; Crompton, A. W.; Butler, R. J.; Porro, L. B.; Charig, A. J. (2011). The Lower Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Heterodontosaurus tucki Crompton & Charig, 1962: cranial anatomy, functional morphology, taxonomy, and relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182-276. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00697.x
Gives the holotype locality as "the village of Noosi (30°03′S, 28°32′E; Kitching & Raath, 1984: table 1)".
norman2011a -
Kitching, J. W.; Raath, M. A. (1984). Fossils from the Elliot and Clarens formations (Karoo Sequence) of the northeastern Cape, Orange Free State and Lesotho, and a suggested biozonation based on tetrapods. Palaeontologia africana 25: 111-125.
Lists "Nosi (Noosi)" at 30° 03'S 28° 32'E, with Abrictosaurus consors.
kitching1984a -
Thulborn, R. A. (1974). A new heterodontosaurid dinosaur (Reptilia: Ornithischia) from the Upper Triassic Red Beds of Lesotho. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 55(2): 151-175. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1974.tb01591.x
Original description of the type material (UCL B54) as Lycorhinus consors; Hopson (1975) erected Abrictosaurus for this species.
thulborn1974a - Hopson, J. A. (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. hopson1975a
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Bordy, E. M.; Eriksson, P. (2015). Lithostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation (Karoo Supergroup), South Africa. South African Journal of Geology 118(3): 311-316. doi:10.2113/gssajg.118.3.311
Records that Thulborn's "Red Beds" were formally renamed the Elliot Formation, accepted by SACS in 1980.
bordy2015a -
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate.
jones2026a