Name: "agile lizard" (Gr. 'sauros' - lizard, reptile)
Species:Agilisaurus louderbacki
Family: hypsilophodontidae
Order/Suborder: ornithischia/
ornithopoda
Time: middle
Jurassic; 165 mya
Location: Asia (
Sichuan Province,
China)
Diet: herbivore
Discovered: 1983, by
Cai & He
Length: 4 ft. (1.2 m)
Height: 2 ft. (.6 m)
Weight: 30 lbs.(13 kilos)
Fossil Record: near complete skeleton
Agilisaurus was accidentally discovered in 1983 when construction workers were digging the foundation of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in the Sichuan Province of China. It is the most complete ornithopod ever found in China.
It had a short neck, long tail, and long legs. The head was short an d deep with rows of serrated , leaf-like chewing teeth with some larger pointed teeth at the front. Though currently classified as a hypsilophodont, it may be a member of a new family. It is believed that dinosaurs like this were the ancestors of the later hadrosaurs and iguanodonts of the Cretaceous.