Thecodontosaurus
Thecodontosaurus antiquus
Pronounced:
Thee-co-Don-toe-Sore-us
Diet: Herbivore
(Plant-Eater)
Name Means:
"Socket Tooth Lizard"
Length: 4 feet
(1.25 m)
Height: 1 foot
(.3 m)
Weight: 25 pounds
(11 kilos)
Time: Triassic
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found
in Northern Argentina
Thecodontosaurus is the earliest known
member of the dinosaur family called the
prosauropods that many scientists believe
became the huge long-necked herbivorous
(plant eating) dinosaurs called sauropods.
It was very small compared to the later
giant plant eaters. Not a lot is known about
this small dinosaur as very little of it was
found. Thecodontoaurus, being such an early
dinosaur, did not look very different from
early meat-eaters - in fact, they may have
all been related! It wasn't until later in
the Triassic period that plant eaters got
bigger and began to walk on four legs
instead of two.
This small dinosaur is another victim of WWII.
The type specimen and other material attributed to
this dinosaur were destroyed by Nazi bombs in 1940.
Fossils found in South Africa, North America and
Australia are believed to potentially be the same
genus. Again, as this was such an early dinosaur, it
provides evidence of early dinosaur migration. |
