PISANOSAURUS
Pronunciation: pye-SAN-uh-SAWR-us
Translation: Pisano's Lizard
Also Known As:
Description: Herbivore, Bipedal
Order: Ornithischia
Suborder:
Family:
Height: 24 inches (0.6 meters)
Length: 36 inches (0.9 meters)
Weight: 8 pounds (3.6 kg)
Period: Late Triassic


Notes: Pisanosaurus is considered to be the earliest ornithischian dinosaur. It lived during the Late Triassic period, millions of years before any other bird-hipped dinosaur appeared. Its presence in the same formation in Argentina as the primitive theropods Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor imply that, if dinosaurs share a common ancestor, the common ancestor occurred earlier than these specimens, which are the earliest known dinosaurs. Small, with long, slender feet, Pisanosaurus probably was a good runner. Scientists think that it belongs to the heterodontosaur family. If it is a heterodontosaurid, a group also found in Africa, its existence is further evidence that these continents were still joined together during the Late Triassic Period.