Outline: a typical early ornithischian
Agilisaurus
AJ-il-ih-SORE-us
"agile lizard"
- Lived
- 171 to 155 million years ago, Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 1.5 m (5 ft)
- Group
- Early ornithischians
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Peng 1990
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical early ornithischian shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
165 million years ago
Field notes
About Agilisaurus
What it was like
Agilisaurus was a small, two-legged plant eater about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long. It had long legs, a long tail for balance and leaf-shaped teeth. It was probably quick on its feet, which was its best defense.
Its world
It lived in the Jurassic in what is now China. Its bones come from the Shaximiao Formation, where it shared the land with the long-necked Shunosaurus and the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus.
How it was found
Peng named Agilisaurus in 1990 from one nearly complete skeleton.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Neornithischia
- NanosaurusLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- EnigmacursorLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- PulaosaurusMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- YandusaurusMiddle Jurassic
- MinimocursorLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- HexinlusaurusMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- SanxiasaurusEarly Jurassic to Middle Jurassic
- StormbergiaEarly Jurassic
Sources: WikidataNamed in: G. Peng. 1992. Jurassic ornithopod Agilisaurus louderbacki (Ornithopoda: Fabrosauridae) from Zigong, Sichuan, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 30(1):39-53