Outline: a typical early ornithischian
Enigmacursor
"puzzle runner"
Type species Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae
- Lived
- 155 to 143 million years ago, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Early ornithischians
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Maidment and Barrett 2025
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
150 million years ago
Field notes
About Enigmacursor
What it was like
Enigmacursor was a small plant eater that ran on its long hind legs. It is known from a partial skeleton. It was once thought to be a specimen of Nanosaurus, but closer study showed it was different.
Its world
It lived in the Late Jurassic, in what is now Colorado. It comes from the Morrison Formation, where it shared the land with Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Diplodocus and Brontosaurus.
How it was found
Maidment and Barrett named Enigmacursor in 2025. The type species is Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Neornithischia
- NanosaurusLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- AgilisaurusMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- 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: S. C. R. Maidment and P. M. Barrett. 2025. Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a neornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western USA. Royal Society Open Science 12(6):242195