Pisanosaurus

Name: Pisanosaurus ‭(‬Pisano’s lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Pie-san-o-sore-us.
Named By: R.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Casamiquela‭ ‬-‭ ‬1967.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Pisanosauridae.
Species: P.‭ ‬mertii‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Up to about‭ ‬1‭ ‬meter long.
Known locations: Argentina‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ischigualasto Formation.
Time period: Carnian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and post cranial skeletal fossils.

       Pisanosaurus is easily one of the oldest ornithischian dinosaurs that are currently known to science.‭ ‬Unfortunately the holotype specimen is very fragmentary,‭ ‬and details such as the orientation of the pubic bone are still unknown.‭ ‬Despite this the basic orithopod body form can still be clearly seen,‭ ‬Pisanosaurus is a good indicator for a type of dinosaur that would become common and widespread all the way through the Mesozoic.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Un nuevo dinosaurio ornitisquio triasico‭ (‬Pisanosaurus mertii‭; ‬Ornithopoda‭) ‬de la Formación Ischigualasto,‭ ‬Argentina‭ [‬A new Triassic ornithischian dinosaur‭ (‬Pisanosaurus mertii‭; ‬Ornithopoda‭) ‬from the Ischigualasto Formation,‭ ‬Argentina‭]‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ameghiniana‭ ‬4‭(‬2‭)‬:47-64.‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Casamiquela‭ ‬-‭ ‬1967.
- Pisanosaurus mertii Casamiquela and the origin of the Ornithischia. - Journal of Paleontology. 50 (5): 808–820. - J. F. Bonaparte - 1976.
- Nuevas observaciones sobre Pisanosaurus mertii Casamiquela, 1967 (Dinosauriformes) y sus implicancias taxonómicas. - XXIX Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados. 27–29. - Federico L. Agnolin - 2015.
- Phylogenetic reassessment of Pisanosaurus mertii Casamiquela, 1967, a basal dinosauriform from the Late Triassic of Argentina. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 16 (10): 853–879. - Federico L. Agnolín & Sebastián Rozadilla - 2017.
- Pisanosaurus mertii and the Triassic ornithischian crisis: could phylogeny offer a solution?. - Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 31 (8): 1–15. - Matthew G. Baron - 2018.

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