Stormbergia
"from the Stormberg"
- Lived
- 201 to 193 million years ago, Early Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Early ornithischians
- Named by
- Butler 2005
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
No finds with map coordinates are recorded yet.
Habitat
It lived on the floodplains of southern Africa, where temporary rivers left sheets of sand. Dinosaurs from the same regional rocks include Massospondylus, Heterodontosaurus and Lesothosaurus.
Field notes
About Stormbergia
What it was like
Stormbergia was a small, two-legged plant eater, known from parts of several skeletons. It had long legs for running and a beak for cropping plants.
Some scientists think it is simply a grown-up Lesothosaurus.
Its world
It lived in the Early Jurassic in what is now southern Africa.
How it was found
Butler named Stormbergia in 2005.
Field gallery
More views of Stormbergia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
The evidence
The science behind Stormbergia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Partial skeletons preserve the backbone, pelvis and long hindlimbs.
- A tab-shaped projection on a pelvic bone was a main feature used to distinguish Stormbergia.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head is restored from Lesothosaurus, which may be the same animal at a younger age.
Still unknown
- Whether the differences from Lesothosaurus reflect growth rather than a separate genus.
- Its skin covering and color.
- Exactly which plants it ate.
Discovery timeline
- 2004Its worldBordy, John Hancox & Rubidge
- 2005Named itBUTLER
- 2016RedescriptionBaron, Norman & Barrett
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Stormbergia
Its world
Traced a change from winding, permanent rivers to temporary rivers across the floodplains preserved in the Elliot Formation.
Fluvial style variations in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic Elliot formation, main Karoo Basin, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 38: 383-400
Read the paper : Fluvial style variations in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic Elliot formation, main Karoo Basin, South Africa (opens in a new tab)Named it
Named Stormbergia from partial skeletons, using its larger size and a tab-shaped projection on a pelvic bone to distinguish it.
The ‘fabrosaurid’ ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145: 175-218
Read the paper : The ‘fabrosaurid’ ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Compared Stormbergia with Lesothosaurus and concluded that their apparent differences probably reflect growth within the same species.
Postcranial anatomy ofLesothosaurus diagnosticus(Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Lower Jurassic of southern Africa: implications for basal ornithischian taxonomy and systematics. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Read the paper : Postcranial anatomy ofLesothosaurus diagnosticus(Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Lower Jurassic of southern Africa: implications for basal ornithischian taxonomy and systematics (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Neornithischia
Sources: Wikidata