Agilisaurus
| Agilisaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic,
| |
|---|---|
| Mounted skeleton at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Neornithischia |
| Genus: | †Agilisaurus Peng, 1990 |
| Species: | †A. louderbacki
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Agilisaurus louderbacki Peng, 1990
| |
Agilisaurus (/ˌædʒɪlɪˈsɔːrəs/; 'agile lizard') is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now eastern Asia. The only named species is A. louderbacki, recovered from the Lower Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan, China. It was about 1.2–1.7 m (3.9–5.6 ft) in length, 60 cm (2.0 ft) in hip height, and 40 kg (88 lb) in weight. It has leaf-shaped teeth that were well-adapted to its abrasive, plant-based diet. Most surprisingly, the wavy enamel of the teeth of this genus (and all other ornithopods), presumed to make them more resistant to wear, was previously thought to be exclusive to hadrosaurs. This is also the case for Changchunsaurus from the Cretaceous Period.