Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Lesothosaurus diagnosticus

Reptilia

Taxonomy
Lesothosaurus diagnosticus was named by Galton (1978). Its type specimen is BMNH RU (UCL) B17, a skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is north flank, Likhoele Mountain (UCL), which is in a Hettangian/Sinemurian terrestrial sandstone in the Elliot Formation of Lesotho.

It was synonymized subjectively with Fabrosaurus australis by Hunt and Lucas (1994), Peng (1997).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1978Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Galton pp. 156-157
1980Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Coombs p. 381
1982Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Coombs, Jr. p. 102
1983Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Weishampel and Weishampel p. 44
1984Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Olsen and Galton p. 91
1985Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Maryanska and Osmólska p. 146
1991Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Sereno p. 169
1994Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Chure et al. p. 306
1999Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Knoll p. 65
2001Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Vickaryous et al. p. 1773
2002Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Buchholz p. 18
2004Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Norman et al. p. 326
2004Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Weishampel p. 323
2005Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Butler pp. 184-185
2005Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler pp. 185-199 figs. 3C-d, 5, 7-19
2006Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Langer and Benton p. 318 fig. 4
2006Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Pereda Suberbiola et al. p. 227
2007Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Butler et al. p. S12
2007Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler et al. p. S13
2007Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Gand et al. p. 74
2007Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Upchurch et al. p. 75
2008Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Butler et al. p. 10
2008Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler et al. p. 20
2008Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Irmis and Knoll p. 121
2008Stormbergia dangershoeki Irmis and Knoll p. 121
2009Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Bittencourt and Kellner p. 43
2009Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Butler and Sullivan p. 22
2009Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler and Sullivan p. 26
2009Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Butler and Zhao p. 65
2009Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler and Zhao p. 65
2010Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Langer et al. p. 86
2010Stormbergia dangershoeki Langer et al. p. 88
2010Lesothosaurus diagnosticus McDonald et al. p. 33 fig. 39
2012Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Han et al. p. 1391 fig. 14
2012Stormbergia dangershoeki Han et al. p. 1391 fig. 14
2012Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Kammerer et al. p. 281
2013Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Zheng et al.
2014Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Arbour et al. p. 2
2015Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Verdú et al. p. 256
2016Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Dieudonné et al. p. 30
2016Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Fuentes Vidarte et al. p. 440
2016Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Griffin and Nesbitt p. 6
2018Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Herne et al. p. 45
2018Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Madzia et al. p. 968
2018Stormbergia dangershoeki Madzia et al. p. 969
2019Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Cruzado-Caballero et al. p. 214
2019Stormbergia dangershoeki Cruzado-Caballero et al. p. 218
2019Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Herne et al. p. 551
2019Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Párraga and Prieto-Márquez p. 251
2019Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Veiga et al. p. 13
2020Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Breeden and Rowe p. 2
2020Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Desojo et al. p. 27
2020Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Dieudonné et al.
2020Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Moro et al.
2021Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Breeden et al. p. 8
2022Lesothosaurus diagnosticus Rotatori et al. p. 146

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
RankNameAuthor
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Ornithischia()
genusLesothosaurus
speciesdiagnosticus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

show all | hide all
Invalid names: Stormbergia dangershoeki Butler 2005 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. J. Butler 2005Lesothosaurus diagnosticus cannot be diagnosed on the basis of autapomorphic features. However, it is distinguishable from all other ornithischians on the basis of a unique combination of primitive and derived character states and should be considered a metataxon (sensuGauthier, 1986), pending further discoveries. This unique character combination comprises: anterior premaxillary foramen present; slot in maxilla for lacrimal present; six premaxillary teeth present; absence of diastema between the premaxillary and maxillary teeth; maxillary teeth lack apicobasally extending ridges on their lingual and labial faces; manual phalanges lacking prominent intercondylar processes; ilium with well-developed supraacetabular flange and ventromedially angling brevis shelf visible in lateral view; dorsal groove on the ischial shaft present; shaft of ischium twists through 90° along its length, forms an elongate symphysis with the opposing ischial blade, and lacks a tab-shaped obturator process; prepubic process short and mediolaterally flattened rather than rodlike and does not extend beyond the end of the preacetabular process of the ilium; postcranial osteoderms absent.
R. J. Butler 2005 (Stormbergia dangershoeki)A relatively large (around 2 m length) basal ornithischian, lacking unambiguous autapomorphies but distinguished by a unique combination of character states, not seen in other basal ornithischians, including: ilium with a robust, elongate, pubic peduncle, well-developed supra-acetabular flange and ventromedially angling brevis shelf; acetabulum partially closed medially by a ventral flange of the ilium; ischial symphysis present distally only; ischium with an essentially untwisted shaft and a well-developed, proximal tab-shaped obturator process; prepubic process short and mediolaterally flattened.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Entire body: yesg
Adult length: 10 to < 100o
Adult width: 1.0 to < 10o
Adult height: 1.0 to < 10o
Architecture: compact or denseo
Ontogeny: accretion, modification of partso
Grouping: gregariouso
Environment: terrestrialg
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: ground dwellingg
Diet: herbivoreg
Reproduction: oviparouso
Dispersal: direct/internalo
Dispersal 2: mobileo
Created: 2005-08-25 06:11:20
Modified: 2005-09-15 13:06:36
Source: g = genus, o = order
References: Peczkis 1995, Marsh 1875

Age range: base of the Hettangian to the top of the Sinemurian or 201.30000 to 190.80000 Ma

Collections (5 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8Lesotho (Quthing) Fabrosaurus australis (28613) Heterodontosaurus sp. (55340)
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8South Africa (Free State) Lesothosaurus diagnosticus (48391)
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8Lesotho (Mafeteng) Fabrosaurus australis (type locality: 28570)
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8South Africa (Eastern Cape) Fabrosauridae indet. (45796)