Abrictosaurus

wakeful lizard

• abriktos · Greek · wakeful
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Abrictosaurus combines the Greek "abriktos" (wakeful) with "sauros" (lizard), giving "wakeful lizard". It was named by Hopson in 1975 for a small heterodontosaurid from southern Africa. The species was first described in 1974 as Lycorhinus consors and was later given its own genus.

Named by

Hopson

Year named

1975

Period

Early Jurassic

Stages

Hettangian – Sinemurian

Found in

Upper Elliot Formation, Lesotho (southern Africa)

A heterodontosaurid ornithischian. The type species is A. consors. The known specimen lacks the large canine-like tusks of related genera such as Heterodontosaurus, which may mean it was a female or a different kind of animal.