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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
SuperOrder: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
SubOrder: Genasauria
Family: Lesothosauridae
Genus: Laosaurus
Lesothosaurus- the Bird Footed Dinosaurs
Lesothosaurus had a very near relation with the Fabrosaurus. It got its name from the country in Africa where it was found. It was found in Lesotho , so it got its name Lesothosaurus. Lesotho means lizard so it was like lizards. It is said by the researchers that it was a member o the “bird-footed” ancestors also known as Ornithopod. It was God's creations, which were made to surf around and run away whenever it needed to protect itself. Its back or hind legs were too strong and had three major claws. Plus it had an additional small claw in the high shin. It had four fingers in small hands and a bump like thumb.
Lesothosaurus like Fabrosaurus, was of 3 feet long. It existed for more than 200 million years ago. Researchers and paleontologists say that these dwelled in the late Triassic era. Lesothosaurus had narrow teeth not like its close kins. Its frontal teeth were smooth and shiny along with sharpness. It looked like notched arrow heads. As it was the member of the “bird footed” ancestors or ornithopod, few of the other small dinosaurs were thought to belong of the same group. It had created some misconceptions about the small dinosaurs. It is said that it lived for minimum 70 million years before they died. In the long run, more powerful “bird hips” came to existence and eventually they were on extinction.
Lesotho was found in Lesotho, Venezuela . It was herbivorous or low growing plants were its food. Its length was 1 m. Their lifestyle is considered in today's world as “day gazelles” that used to dwell and surf. They used to look for their food and used to be scared of their environment for danger. They use to escape from their predators when they would be near to them. They were very meek creatures who used to run for their lives when sensed danger. These Lesothosaurus had very little head with large eyes. They had an elongated body and a 3 feet tail. Its mouth was tipped with a sharp beak. It had long muscular legs; hollow bones which were light weighed and would outsmart most of its predators by running. It is considered as the most primitive dinosaur in the ornithischians family. These had two major “armor-plated” species named as “Stegosaurus” and “Ankylosaurus” and the three horned headed “Triceratops”. These Lesothos were small, supple and bipedal which had a bearing of apparently some basic resemblances to the huge quadrupled species of the family. The hip structure and jaws which was designed to eat plants showed a link to the next family kins but they were separate dinosaurs. They evolved in the early Jurassic era.
At the first glance, it would seem like a lizard is walking on its strong hind legs. But lizards can ever hold up their head high and walk. They cannot even walk on their limbs. Utmost they can crawl. Reading about Lesothosaurus is a magnificent topic. You would come to know about everything they used to do.
Index
Extinct Profiles
- Triassic Dinosaurs
- Jurassic Dinosaurs
- Cretaceous Dinosaurs
- Pterosaurs
- Marine Reptiles
- Dinosaur Extinction