Fabrosaurus

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Fabrosaurus
Fossil range: Early Jurassic

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Family:	Fabrosauridae
Genus:	Fabrosaurus Ginsburg, 1964

Species

F. australis

Fabrosaurus (pronounced /ˌfæbroʊˈsɔːrəs/ FAB-ro-SAWR-us) (meaning "Fabre's lizard" in honor of Jean Henri Fabre (Greek sauros = lizard)) was a genus of herbivorous dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic (Hettangian to Sinemurian stages 208 - 196 mya). As the only fossil known of it is a partial jawbone with three teeth, Fabrosaurus is a nomen dubium and may in fact be the same as Lesothosaurus.

Fabrosaurus was around 1 meter long (3.3 feet) and 0.3 m (1 ft) high. Little else can be inferred from the scanty remains. It was named by paleontologist Leonard Ginsburg in 1964. The type species, F. australis, is named for the location of the fossils in Lesotho, Southern Africa.

[edit] References

Ginsburg, L., 1964, "Decouverte d’un Scelidosaurien (Dinosaure ornithischien) dans le Trias superior du Basutoland", Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris, 258; 2366 - 2368