Name:
Eocursor (Greek for "dawn runner"); pronounced EE-oh-cur-sore
Habitat:
Woodlands of southern Africa
Historical Period:
Late Triassic (210 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 3 feet long and 50 pounds
Diet:
Probably omnivorous
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Small size; bipedal gait
About Eocursor:
Toward the end of the Triassic period, the very first dinosaurs--as opposed to prehistoric reptiles like pelycosaurs and therapsids--appeared around the world. One of these, in southern Africa, was Eocursor, the counterpart of fellow progenitor dinosaurs like Herrerasaurus in South America and Coelophysis in North America. The closest relative of Eocursor was probably Heterodontosaurus, and this early dinosaur appears to lie at the root of the evolutionary branch that later gave rise to ornithischian dinosaurs including stegosaurs and ceratopsians.
