Eocursor parvus Butler et al., 2007

Nesbitt, Sterling J., 2011, The Early Evolution Of Archosaurs: Relationships And The Origin Of Major Clades, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (352), pp. 1-292 : 51

Eocursor parvus Butler et al., 2007

AGE:?Norian, Late Triassic ( Lucas and Hancox, 2001).

OCCURRENCE: Damplaats Farm, Ladybrand District, Free State, Republic of South Africa, upper part of the lower Elliot Formation ( Butler et al., 2007).

HOLOTYPE: SAM-PK-K8025, disarticulat- ed partial skeleton including parietal, supraoccipital, basisphenoid, parasphenoid, right dentary, surangular and angular, isolated cheek tooth, fragmentary cervical, dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae, scapulae, humeri, radius, six manual phalanges, ilia, ischia, pubes, femora, tibiae, fibulae, right metatarsals II and III, and three pedal phalanges.

REMARKS: Eocursor is known from crania and postcrania from the lower Elliot Formation. This stratigraphic position makes Eocursor the earliest most complete ornithischi- an currently known ( Butler et al., 2007). Butler et al. (2007) found Eocursor near the base of Ornithischia .

Butler et al. (2007) differentiated Eocursor from other ornithischians by: an accessory fossa present on the lateral surface of the basisphenoid, posterior to the canal for the internal carotid artery; maximum transverse expansion of the distal end of the humerus is only 50% of maximum transverse expansion of proximal humerus; and pubic obturator foramen subcircular and enlarged (maximum dorsoventral diameter of foramen is twice the maximum diameter of proximal pubic shaft).

KEY REFERENCES: Butler et al., 2007.