Jump to content

Pegomastax

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pegomastax
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 200–190 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Superorder:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Pegomastax

Sereno, 2012
Lower jaws of specimen SAM-PK-K10488

Pegomastax ("strong jaw") is a genus of small heterodontosaur dinosaur discovered in Lower Jurassic rocks in South Africa. It is based on a skull in the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town.

It was collected during a 1966–1967 expedition but not named and described until recently. Paul Sereno, who had recognized it as unusual in the 1980s, published a description in 2012. The type species is P. africana. Pegomastax differed from other heterodontosaurs by details of the skull. The lower jaw was robust, with a short beak. Like most other heterodontosaurs, Pegomastax had an enlarged canine-like tooth at the beginning of the lower jaw's tooth row, which may have been used for defence.[1] The rest of its teeth were those of a herbivore.[2]

References

[change | change source]
  1. Sereno, Paul C. (2012). "Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs". ZooKeys (226): 1–225. doi:10.3897/zookeys.226.2840. PMC 3491919. PMID 23166462.
  2. BBC News: Science & Environment. "Dwarf 'vampire' dinosaur was a plant eater."