Thecodontosaurus Temporal range: Rhaetian
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Skeletal restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
Family: | †Thecodontosauridae |
Genus: | †Thecodontosaurus Riley & Stutchbury, 1836 |
Type species | |
†Thecodontosaurus antiquus Morris, 1843
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Synonyms[1] | |
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Thecodontosaurus ("socket-tooth lizard") is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period (Rhaetian age).
Its remains are known mostly from Triassic "fissure fillings" in South England. Thecodontosaurus was a small bipedal animal, about 2 m (6.5 ft) long. It is one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered and is one of the oldest that existed. Many species have been named in the genus, but only the type species Thecodontosaurus antiquus is seen as valid today.