Eocursor

Artistic representation of live Eocursor

• South Africa ( Elliot Formation)

• Eocursor parvus

Eocursor ( " dawn runner " ) is a genus of dinosaur and a very early and original representatives of the bird Beck dinosaur ( Ornithischia ). So far, a single fragmentary skeleton is known from the Upper Triassic ( Norian probably ) comes from South Africa. This skeleton includes both bones of the skull and bones of the Postkraniums with a - so that is Eocursor the Triassic bird Beck dinosaurs most completely preserved. The only way is Eocursor parvus.

The date the only skeleton was recovered from the layers of the Lower Elliot Formation in 1993, a major fossil find employment in South Africa - the first scientific description as Eocursor parvus but only followed in 2007 by researchers at Richard J. Butler. Very early bird Beck dinosaurs are so far only very few finds known, why is Eocursor for understanding the early evolution of this group of great scientific importance.

Description

Eocursor was a slightly -built, two-legged dinosaur with an estimated length of about a meter and a hip height of about 30 centimeters. There were believed to be a fast runner, after which the proportions of the leg bones indicate. The general physique resembles that of the Lower Jurassic dinosaur bird Beck as Lesothosaurus and Scutellosaurus; hand, however, was relatively robust and longer and thus resembles that of the Heterodontosauridae, a specialized group of original bird Beck dinosaurs. The morphology of the triangular teeth indicates that this animal has fed at least partially vegetable.

Fund and naming

The only previous remains date from the South African province of the Free State. The bones were found disarticulation (outside of the skeletal network ), include various skull bones, several vertebrae, shoulder blade and front limbs, pelvis and hind limbs with a. Today, the skeleton under the copy number SAM -PK - K8025 in the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town is archived.

The name Eocursor parvus (Greek eos - " Dawn "; Latin cursor - "runner"; Latin parvus - "small" ) means something like " little runner of dawn " and points to the geological age, the ability to rapidly running and the small body size of the bird Beck dinosaur.