Lesothosaurus

Say it like this: “le-SOH-toh-SAWR-us”

Lesothosaurus diagnosticus

Lesothosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic. Bones have been found in Lesotho.

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When: Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago
Named in: 1978 · Galton, P. M.
Hip height: 0.6 m · 2 ft
Length: 1–2 m · 3–7 ft
Weight: 18 kg · 40 lb
Found in: Lesotho · Elliot
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two legs
Kind: bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
Family branch: Ornithischia

The story in short

Lesothosaurus was formally named in 1978 by P. M. Galton. The name means “lizard from Lesotho.”

It lived in the Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian), roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago. Finds come from Lesotho, including the Elliot Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Lesothosaurus at a length near 1–2 m, hips about 0.6 m high, and a body mass around 18 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Ornithischia, among the bird-hipped dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Alocodon

Alocodon kuehnei

Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago

Amtosaurus

Amtosaurus magnus

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian · Turonian) · roughly 100.5 to 89.8 million years ago

Archaeocursor

Archaeocursor asiaticus

Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago