| Laquintasaura Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Hettangian
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| Reconstruction of Laquintasaura venezuelae | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Genus: | †Laquintasaura Barrett et al., 2014 |
| Species: | †L. venezuelae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Laquintasaura venezuelae | |
Laquintasaura is a genus of Venezuelan ornithischian dinosaur containing only the type species Laquintasaura venezuelae. It is known for being one of the and 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.
A small animal, it is thought to have been a lightly built and would not have grown much larger than 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. One of the first species known to possess the distinctive bird-like hip bone of ornithischians, it would have been a capable bipedal runner. Showcasing rather primitive anatomy overall, its most noted characteristics are found in its teeth. Unlike the leaf shaped teeth of related ornithschians, those of Laquintasaura had a distinctive triangular shape, with distinct striations and sharp denticles running down the edges. These may have contributed to an omnivorous diet unlike those of later relatives. They would have lived in groups, living on a seasonal alluvial plain and being preyed upon by the contemporary Tachiraptor.
Taxonomic uncertainty has led to conflicting hypotheses that it is either an early diverging ornithischian or part of the subgroup Thyreophora. Aspects of its femoral anatomy, possessing only some traits of later relatives, may be demonstrative of an important transitional step in the evolution from earlier types of dinosaur. Regardless of its precise classification, its dating to around 200 million years ago at the start of the Jurassic and primitive nature make it a key insight into early ornithischian evolution. Likewise, its discovery was considered significant to the understanding of the geographical distribution of early dinosaurs on the supercontinent of Pangaea. Previous research had cast doubt on whether dinosaurs lived around the equator during their early evolution, and on when ornithischians first spread to the northern Hemisphere; the discovery of Laquintasaura demonstrated both at a very early point in time.