Ignavusaurus rachelis

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Ignavusaurus 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic sauropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Ignavusaurus
Length
1.5 m (4.9 ft)
Period
Early Jurassic (201–174 Mya)
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Massospondylidae Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Early sauropodomorphs — bipedal-ish, plant-eaters.

Ignavusaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now Lesotho. Its fossils were found in the Upper Elliot Formation which is probably Hettangian in age (around 200 million years ago). It was described on the basis of a partial, well preserved articulated skeleton. The type species, I. rachelis, was described in 2010 by Spanish palaeontologist F. Knoll.

What we know

  • Named by Knoll, 2010.
  • Body length estimated at about 1.5 m.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Ignavusaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.