
Heterodontosaurus
Sign in to saveHeterodontosaurus is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic, 200–190 million years ago. Its only known member species, Heterodontosaurus tucki, was named in 1962 based on a skull discovered in South Africa. The genus name means "different toothed lizard", in reference to its unusual, heterodont dentition; the specific name honours G. C. Tuck, who supported the discoverers. Further specimens have since been found, including an almost complete skeleton in 1966.
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Heterodontosaurus is referenced by 247 other articles, and connects out to Ornithischia, Heterodontosauridae and Glanosuchus macrops.
It sits within the topics Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of South Africa and Early Jurassic dinosaurs.
Its subject is documented across 34 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Heterodontosaurus skeleton.jpg
- Length
- 1.2
Show 9 more facts
- taxon name
- Heterodontosaurus
- Commons category
- Heterodontosaurus
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons gallery
- Heterodontosaurus
- start time
- 200000000-
- end time
- 190000000-
- time period
- Early Jurassic
- location of discovery
- Lesotho
- main food source
- herbivore
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~38 min read
Encyclopedic overview
14 sectionsContents
- History of discovery
- Description
- Skull and dentition
- Postcranial skeleton
- Classification
- Palaeobiology
- Diet and tusk function
- Tooth replacement and aestivation
- Locomotion, metabolism and breathing
- Growth and proposed sexual dimorphism
- Palaeoenvironment
- References
- Works cited
- External links
Heterodontosaurus is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic, 200–190 million years ago. Its only known member species, Heterodontosaurus tucki, was named in 1962 based on a skull discovered in South Africa. The genus name means "different toothed lizard", in reference to its unusual, heterodont dentition; the specific name honours G. C. Tuck, who supported the discoverers. Further specimens have since been found, including an almost complete skeleton in 1966.
Though it was a small dinosaur, Heterodontosaurus was one of the largest members of its family, reaching between and possibly in length, and weighing between . The skull was elongated, narrow, and triangular when viewed from the side. The front of the jaws were covered in a horny beak. It had three types of teeth; in the upper jaw, small, incisor-like teeth were followed by long, canine-like tusks. A gap divided the tusks from the chisel-like cheek-teeth. The body was short with a long tail. The five-fingered forelimbs were long and relatively robust, whereas the hind-limbs were long, slender, and had four toes.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Heterodontosaurus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.