Dino card No. 1038 of 2,027

Lesothosaurus

Say it: le-SOO-tho-SORE-us

Name means: “lizard from Lesotho”1

Ate: PlantsArmoured dinosEarly Jurassic

Lesothosaurus was a tiny, speedy dinosaur that lived in what is now southern Africa. It ran on two long legs and used a beak to snip up its food. Scientists think it may have eaten both plants and small animals when times were tough.1 2

Lived

201 to 193 million years ago4

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Lesotho and South Africa1 3

Food

Plants1 3

Length

1 to 2 m1

about 1 to 2 meters (3.3 to 6.6 feet) long

Weight

3 kg to 10 kg4

minimum and maximum body mass from PBDB

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 house cats

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 11 bananas end to endas heavy as 83 bananas

How big was Lesothosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Lesothosaurus is one of the most completely known early ornithischian dinosaurs, with many skull and body fossils found.1

It had five fingers on each hand, but they were not good for grasping things.2

Its long slender legs and tail suggest it was a fast runner, able to dart away from predators.1

The name Lesothosaurus means 'lizard from Lesotho', because its fossils were found in the Kingdom of Lesotho.1

Some scientists think Lesothosaurus might actually be a very early armored dinosaur, related to stegosaurs and ankylosaurs.1

A dinosaur called Stormbergia dangershoeki is now thought to be the adult form of Lesothosaurus.1

AI-made picture of Lesothosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Lesothosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Lesothosaurus

?How big was Lesothosaurus?

About 1 to 2 metres long and weighed around 10 kilograms.1 2

?How fast could Lesothosaurus run?

It was a fast runner. Its long slender legs, small arms, and slender tail all suggest it could dart away quickly from predators.1

?When did Lesothosaurus live?

It lived during the Early Jurassic period, about 199 to 190 million years ago.1 2

?Where was Lesothosaurus found?

Its fossils were found in Lesotho and South Africa, in the Upper Elliot Formation.1 2

?Is Lesothosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a small ornithischian dinosaur, one of the earliest and most completely known early ornithischians.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Lesothosaurus
Named by: Galton 19784
Group: Armoured dinos
Family / clade: Thyreophora4
Classification: Ornithischia > Thyreophora4
Age of the rocks: 201 to 193 million years (Hettangian / Sinemurian)4
Rock formations: Elliot4
Countries: Lesotho, South Africa4
Fossil records: 9 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: British paleontologist Peter Galton named Lesothosaurus in 1978, using fossils collected in Lesotho during the 1960s.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Lesothosaurus was a very early member of the neornithischian group or an early thyreophoran (armored dinosaur).1

Where the facts come from

Lesothosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Lesothosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Lesothosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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