Name:
Laquintasaura
(La Quinta lizard).
Phonetic: Lah-kwin-tah-sor-rah.
Named By: P. M. Barrett, R. J. Butler,
R. Mundil, T. M. Scheyer, R. B. Irmis & M.
R. S�nchez-Villagra - 2014.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda.
Species: L. venezuelae
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about 1 meter long.
Known locations: Venezuela.
Time period: Hettangian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.
Named in 2014, Laquintasaura is officially the first ever dinosaur genus to be named as coming from Venezeula. Laquintasaura was a small plant eating dinosaur, roughly estimated to have been about one meter long. When the first fossils of Laquintasaura were recovered, small theropod dinosaur teeth were discovered near them, hinting at a predator/prey relationship. Later in 2014, actual theropod dinosaur bones were found and used to name the genus Tachiraptor.
Further reading
- A palaeoequatorial ornithischian and new constraints on early
dinosaur diversification. - Proceedings of the Royal Society B
281:20141147-841. - P. M. Barrett, R. J. Butler, R.
Mundil, T. M. Scheyer, R. B. Irmis & M. R.
S�nchez-Villagra - 2014.