Jurassic Dinos editorial · Updated · Source-based review
What was Laquintasaura?
Laquintasaura was a small early ornithischian from Jurassic Venezuela. It is important both for the early history of that dinosaur branch and for documenting dinosaurs in a region with a less extensive known fossil record.
What makes the fossil distinctive?
A bonebed contains many skeletal elements from multiple individuals. The teeth have distinctive shapes and prominent serrations. These features invite questions about feeding, but an exact menu should not be supplied from a simple herbivore stereotype. Its diet is left uncertain here.
Where was it found and how was it named?
The fossils come from the La Quinta Formation, which inspired the genus name. Material was initially compared with Lesothosaurus before Laquintasaura was formally described in 2014. Much of a large collection can remain to be prepared and studied after the first publication.
What can we infer, and what remains uncertain?
Multiple individuals in one deposit may support investigation of group living, but they do not prove a herd without considering how the bones accumulated. Flooding, transport and repeated deposition can also concentrate remains. Laquintasaura offers a useful opportunity to connect anatomy with sedimentology, the study of sediments, rather than interpreting the animals independently of the rocks around them.
Does a bonebed prove a herd lived together?
No. The geological process that concentrated the bones must be examined alongside the number and ages of individuals.
How can you check the evidence?
The Paleobiology Database record catalogues Laquintasaura under Thyreophora. Its linked bibliography identifies this research starting point: P. M. Barrett, R. J. Butler, and R. Mundil, T. M. Scheyer, R. B. Irmis, M. R. Sánchez-Villagra. 2014. A palaeoequatorial ornithischian and new constraints on early dinosaur diversification. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281:20141147:1-6. Open the bibliographic record. A catalogue entry establishes the source trail; it does not independently verify every later illustration or behavioural claim.
Use the dated genus overview to follow the references behind the discovery and anatomy discussed above. When sources disagree, compare which specimen and rock layer each author studied. A reconstructed whole animal can combine original bones with comparisons to relatives; those two kinds of evidence should not be confused. The account above explains the particular limits that matter for Laquintasaura, rather than supplying unsupported size, speed or lifespan figures.
Read the image and keep exploring
The Laquintasaura skeletal reconstruction places fossil evidence within a small, two-legged ornithischian outline. This diagram explains the stated evidence; schematic elements are not additional fossil observations.
Compare Lesothosaurus, Eocursor, Heterodontosaurus. Find more names in the L index and explore ornithischian field notes. The glossary explains unfamiliar fossil terms.
Quick answers
- Where have Laquintasaura fossils been found?
- The discoveries discussed here come from Venezuela. Modern place names describe discovery locations, not a complete ancient geographic range.
- When did Laquintasaura live?
- It is placed in the Jurassic period. See the discovery discussion for qualifications about the particular rock layers and dating.
- Where can I compare Laquintasaura with related dinosaurs?
- Follow the related field notes below. Comparisons explain shared anatomy; they do not imply that all the animals lived together.
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