Laquintasaura
Named for the La Quinta Formation where it was discovered, combined with the feminine Greek suffix for lizard.
Laquintasaura is a genus of Venezuelan ornithischian dinosaur containing a single species, Laquintasaura venezuelae. It is known for being one of the most primitive ornithischians in the fossil record, as well as the first dinosaur to have been identified from Venezuela. The name is derived from the La Quinta Formation, where it was discovered, and the feminine Greek suffix for lizard, with the specific name referring to the country of Venezuela. It is known from hundreds of fossil elements, all derived from a single extensive bonebed locality. Initially discovered by French paleontologists, numerous expeditions have been conducted to excavate from the bonebed, largely led by Marcelo R Sánchez-Villagra. Once thought to represent remains of Lesothosaurus, it was formally named in a 2014 study; much of the abundant material was not yet prepared at the time and research remains ongoing.
Under dispute
Laquintasaura is an unstable early ornithischian recovered either as an early-diverging thyreophoran (Baron and colleagues, 2017; Yao and colleagues, 2025) or as a basal ornithischian outside Genasauria (Barrett and colleagues, 2014; Riguetti and colleagues, 2022).
Diagnosis
- Cheek teeth with isosceles-shaped crowns, apicobasally elongate and tapering apically
- Tooth crowns possess coarse marginal denticles extending full length of crown margins
- Prominent apicobasally extending striations on labial and lingual surfaces of crown
- Sharply inflected dorsal margin of ischium dorsal to obturator process
- Femoral fibula epicondyle medially inset in posterior or ventral view
- Astragalus with deep U-shaped notch in anterior surface
Species
Laquintasaura venezuelae Barrett et al., 2014
Type species
Named for Venezuela, the country where the holotype bonebed in the La Quinta Formation is located, honoring the country and its people.
- Holotype
- MBLUZ P.1396 , Museo de Biología de la Universidad del Zulia
- Material
- Isolated maxillary or dentary tooth; cheek tooth crown elongate, apically tapering, mesiodistally widest immediately apical to root/crown junction, with coarse marginal denticles and apicobasal striations
- Horizon
- La Quinta Formation, Hettangian, Early Jurassic , 201.4–199.5 million years ago
- Locality
- Road-cut between La Grita and Seboruco, Táchira, Venezuela
References
- Barrett, P. M.; Butler, R. J.; Mundil, R.; Scheyer, T. M.; Irmis, R. B.; Sánchez-Villagra, M. R. (2014). A palaeoequatorial ornithischian and new constraints on early dinosaur diversification. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281(1791): 20141147. The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1147 barrett2014a
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Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.
Source of the mass estimate.
paul2024a -
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate.
jones2026a -
Yao, X.; Zhao, Q.; Ren, T.; Wei, G.; Xu, X. (2025). New evidence for the earliest ornithischian dinosaurs from Asia. iScience 28(1). Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.111641
New ornithischian evidence recovering Laquintasaura as a basal ornithischian.
yao2025a -
Baron, M. G.; Norman, D. B.; Barrett, P. M. (2017). A new hypothesis of dinosaur relationships and early dinosaur evolution. Nature 543(7646): 501-506. doi:10.1038/nature21700
Recovered Laquintasaura as an early-diverging thyreophoran within Ornithoscelida
baron2017a -
Riguetti, F. J.; Apesteguía, S.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X. (2022). A new Cretaceous thyreophoran from Patagonia supports a South American lineage of armoured dinosaurs. Scientific Reports 12(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-15535-6
Recovered basal thyreophorans as unresolved outside Eurypoda in Jakapil phylogenetic analysis
riguetti2022a