Abrictosaurus

Abrictosaurus (ih-BRICK-tuh-SAW-russ)
Type Species: consors (KON-surz)
Discoved: 1974, in Lesotho
Clasification:
-Order: Ornithiscia
-Suborder: Ornithopoda
-Family: Heterodontosauridae
Name: Greek abrictor=awake + Greek saurus = lizard

Size: 3 feet long
Period: early Jurassic, 208 million to 200 million years ago.
Place: Southern Africa

Abrictosaurus is set apart from all other Heterodontosaurids because it has no pointed canine teeth at the front of its lower jaw. It had a turkey-size body and a long tail.

Wikipedia:
This dinosaur is known from the fossil remains of only two individuals, found in the Upper Elliot Formation of Qacha's Nek District in Lesotho and Cape Province in South Africa, respectively. The Upper Elliot is thought to date from the Hettangian and Sinemurian stages of the Early Jurassic Period, approximately 200 to 190 million years ago. This formation is thought to preserve sand dunes as well as seasonal floodplains, in a semiarid environment with sporadic rainfall. Other dinosaurs found in this formation include the theropod Megapnosaurus, the sauropodomorph Massospondylus, as well as other heterodontosaurids like Heterodontosaurus and Lycorhinus. Remains of terrestrial crocodylomorphs, cynodonts and early mammals are also abundant

History and naming
Both specimens of Abrictosaurus are housed in the collection of University College London. The holotype specimen was discovered in Lesotho and consists of a partial skull and skeleton (UCL B54). Paleontologist Richard Thulborn, who first described the specimen in 1974, considered it a new species of Lycorhinus and named it L. consors, using the Latin word consors which means 'companion' or 'spouse'. As UCL B54 lacked the caniniforms which had been found in the type species, Lycohinus angustidens, Thulborn believed it to be female. Neither the skull nor the skeletons of Abrictosaurus have been fully described in the literature. A tooth from the latest Triassic of Switzerland has been assigned to Abrictosaurus sp., but this has not been supported, as the specimen does not have unique characteristics of Abrictosaurus, heterodontosaurids, or ornithischians in general.

In 1975, James Hopson redescribed a fragmentary heterodontosaur skull (UCL A100) found in South Africa that Thulborn had previously assigned to Lycorhinus angustidens. After showing that UCL A100 could not belong to L. angustidens but was instead more similar to UCL B54, Hopson erected a new genus to contain both specimens. The generic name Abrictosaurus (from the Greek αβρικτος/abriktos meaning 'wakeful' and σαυρος/sauros meaning 'lizard') refers to Hopson's disagreement with Thulborn's hypothesis that heterodontosaurids underwent periods of aestivation (hibernation during hot and/or dry seasons). The specific name was retained, creating the new binomial Abrictosaurus consors.

Despite Hopson's renaming, Thulborn continued to consider Lycorhinus angustidens, Heterodontosaurus tucki, and Abrictosaurus consors to be three species of the genus Lycorhinus. Most paleontologists maintain all three genera separately, although there is no precise definition of a species or genus in paleontology

Bibliography
-Dinosaur Encyclopedia, by Don Lessem and Donald Glut, The Dinosaur Society, 1993
-Wikipedia