Dinosaurs A to Z
Dinosauria

Laquintasaura

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Laquintasaura 1 m (3.3 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
Length
1 m (3.3 ft)
Period
Early Jurassic (200.91 Mya)
Food
Omnivore
Clade
Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.

Laquintasaura is a genus of Venezuelan ornithischian dinosaur containing a single species, Laquintasaura venezuelae. It is known for being one of the most primitive ornithischians in the fossil record, as well as the first dinosaur to have been identified from Venezuela. The name is derived from the La Quinta Formation, where it was discovered, and the feminine Greek suffix for lizard, with the specific name referring to the country of Venezuela. It is known from hundreds of fossil elements, all derived from a single extensive bonebed locality. Initially discovered by French palaeontologists, numerous expeditions have been conducted to excavate from the bonebed, largely led by Marcelo R Sánchez-Villagra. Once thought to represent remains of Lesothosaurus, it was formally named in a 2014 study; much of the abundant material was not yet prepared at the time and research remains ongoing.

What we know

  • Named by Barrett et al., 2014.
  • Body length estimated at about 1 m.

What we guess

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