Abrictosaurus

Abrictosaurus was a kind of dinosaur that lived in the Early Jurassic period, about 200 to 190 million years ago, in what is now southern Africa.

It belonged to the family Heterodontosauridae, which were small, bipedal dinosaurs with different types of teeth.

Abrictosaurus had a hard beak at the front of its jaws, and large, canine-like tusks in both upper and lower jaws.

The tusks were used for defense or display, and possibly for eating meat or tough plants.

Abrictosaurus also had low-crowned, widely spaced cheek teeth for chewing softer vegetation.

Abrictosaurus was one of the most primitive members of its family, and differed from its relatives by having smaller tusks and simpler cheek teeth.

It was about 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) long and weighed between 0.68 and 3 kilograms (1.5 and 6.6 pounds).

Abrictosaurus was probably an herbivore or an omnivore, meaning that it ate plants or a combination of plants and animals.

Abrictosaurus shared its habitat with other dinosaurs, such as the theropod Megapnosaurus, the sauropodomorph Massospondylus, and other heterodontosaurids like Heterodontosaurus and Lycorhinus.

It also lived alongside terrestrial crocodylomorphs, cynodonts, and early mammals.

Abrictosaurus is known from the fossil remains of only two individuals, found in the Upper Elliot Formation of Lesotho and South Africa.

Abrictosaurus lived in the early Jurassic era
In parts of southern Africa, such as Lesotho and South Africa
It was a small and bipedal dinosaur
With a beak and teeth of different kinds

Some say it was an omnivore, eating plants and meat
Others think it was a herbivore, preferring leaves to eat
It had long tusks in its upper and lower jaws
But they may have varied by sex, age or cause

Abrictosaurus was one of the most basal heterodontosaurids
A group of early ornithischians with heterodont dentition
It had low-crowned and widely spaced cheek teeth
Unlike its relatives with high-crowned and overlapping teeth

Abrictosaurus means "wakeful lizard" in Greek
Because it was thought to be active during the day
It was about 1.2 meters long and weighed up to 3 kilograms
A tiny creature in a land of giants, it was brave and gay.