Thecodontosaurus
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Thecodontosaurus 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
- Length
- 2.5 m (8.2 ft)
- Period
- Triassic (252–201 Mya)
- Place
- United Kingdom
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Thecodontosaurus (“socket-tooth lizard”) is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period (Carnian age). Its remains are known mostly from Triassic “fissure fillings” in southern England. Thecodontosaurus was a small bipedal animal, about 2 m long. It is one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered and is one of the oldest that ever existed. Many species have been named within the genus, but only the type species Thecodontosaurus antiquus is seen as valid today.
What we know
- Named by Riley & Stutchbury, 1836.
- Body length estimated at about 2.5 m.
- Fossils found in United Kingdom.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Thecodontosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.