Agilisaurus ajihlih-SORRUHS
"agile"
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Middle Jurassic (168–164 Mya)
- Place
- Asia · China
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Agilisaurus (; ‘agile lizard’) is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now eastern Asia. The only named species is A. louderbacki, recovered from the Lower Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan, China. It was about 1.2-1.7 in length, 60 cm in hip height, and 40 kg in weight. It has leaf-shaped teeth that were well-adapted to its abrasive, plant-based diet. Most surprisingly, the wavy enamel of the teeth of this genus (and all other ornithopods), presumed to make them more resistant to wear, was previously thought to be exclusive to hadrosaurs. This is also the case for Changchunsaurus from the Cretaceous Period.
What we know
- Named by Peng, 1990.
- Fossils found in Asia and China.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Agilisaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.