Early Ornithischians

Early Ornithischians do not form a natural group. They are often not very well know, or only know from one specimen. I put them in a group to make it easier to set up this section. They are together because they are all from either the Late Triassic or the very Early Jurassic. Most of them were very small (Lesothosaurus was only about 1 meter long), but but Scelidosaurus (which may have been an ancestor to the stegosaurs and ankylosaurs) was up to 4 meters long. Some had body armour (Scelidosaurus and Scutellosaurus), some had sharp teeth (canine teeth) at the front of their mouths like a dog or a cat (Hetrodontosaurus). The earliest ones seemed to be very agile and capable of running. The earliest ornithischian found so far is Pisanosaurus. It has been found in South America. Other good finds have been found in Africa, North America, and Europe. It is hard to place some of these dinosaurs into groups because so little is known about some of them, but more bones are found all the time, so we can only hope that the answers are coming soon.

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