Eocursor
"dawn runner"
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Late Triassic (201.3–191 Mya)
- Place
- Africa · South Africa
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Eocursor (meaning “dawn runner”) is genus of basal ornithischian dinosaur that lived in what is now South Africa during the Early Jurassic. Remains of this animal have been found in the Upper Elliot Formation and it is among the most completely known early ornithischians, shedding new light on the origin of the group.
The exact age of this taxon has been the subject of uncertainty. It was originally interprereted as living during the Late Triassic (Norian age), around 210 million years ago; however, Olsen, Kent & Whiteside (2010) stated that there is no independent geochronological support for its assumed age, and the available data makes it impossible to conclusively determine whether Eocursor is of Triassic or Early Jurassic (potentially as young as Sinemurian) age. Eocursor was subsequently interpreted as a taxon of Early Jurassic age by McPhee et al.
What we know
- Named by Butler, Smith & Norman, 2007.
- Fossils found in Africa and South Africa.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Eocursor — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.