an omnivorous heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa.
Pronunciation: HET-eh-ro-DON-toe-SOR-us
Meaning: Different toothed lizard
Author/s: Crompton and Charig (
1962)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Cape Province, South Africa
Discovery Chart Position: #208
Heterodontosaurus tucki
Etymology
Heterodontosaurus is derived from the Greek "heteros" (different), "odont" (tooth) and "sauros" lizard, in reference to its heterodont dentition: it had different kinds of teeth, for different tasks, in the same mouth. Humans are heterodont too.
The
species epithet,
tucki, honours Mr. G. C. Tuck, managing director of the Austin Motor Co. Ltd., who helped fund the expeditions that found its remains.
Discovery
The first fossils of
Heterodontosaurus were discovered in the Upper Elliot Formation, on the mountain behind the trading store in Tyinindini, Transkei (aka Herschel) District, Cape Province, South Africa, by A.W. Crompton during a joint expedition of the South African Museum and British Museum in 1961-1962. Or so we thought. Recent research has shown that a partial skull (AMNH 24000) discovered by Robert Broom (probably in the younger Clarens Formation) sometime before 1913 actually belongs to
Heterodontosaurus. Embedded in a small block of matrix with only a few teeth visible, it was sold to the American Museum of Natural History as part of Broom's synapsid collection in 1913 and its true identity was revealed after preparation many years later.
All that remains of the
holotype (SAM-PK-K337) is a nearly complete skull,
as the skeletal remains that were initially with it have since been misplaced. However, better fossils have since been discovered, including a virtually complete specimen (SAM-PK-K1332) that Crompton found in the Upper Elliot Formation on the northern slope of the Kromspruit (Krommespruit) Mountain, Voyizane (Voisana), during a joint South African Museum, Yale University, British Museum, University of London expedition to the "Red Beds" of South Africa and Lesotho in 1966-67.
• Crompton AW and Charig AJ (1962) "A new ornithischian from the Upper Triassic of South Africa".
Nature, 1966(4859): 1074-1077. DOI: 10.1038/1961074a0.
• Charig AJ and Crompton AW (1974) "The alleged synonymy of Lycorhinus and Heterodontosaurus".
Annals of the South African Museum, 64: 167–189.
• Hopson JA (1975) "On the generic separation of the ornithischian dinosaurs Lycorhinus and Heterodontosaurus from the Stormberg Series (Upper Triassic) of South Africa".
South African Journal of Science, 71: 302–305.
• Santa Luca AP (1980) "
The postcranial skeleton of Heterodontosaurus tucki (Reptilia, Ornithischia) from the Stormberg of South Africa".
Annals of the South African Museum, 79(7): 159-211.
• Glut DF (1997) "Heterodontosaurus". Page 467–469. in "
Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia".
• Norman DB, Sues H-D, Witmer LM and Coria RA (2004) "Basal Ornithopoda". Page 393-412 in Weishampel, Dodson and Osmólska (eds.) "
The Dinosauria: Second Edition".
• Butler RJ (2005) "The 'fabrosaurid' ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho".
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 145(2): 175-218.
• Currie PJ and Padian K (2007) "
Encyclopedia of dinosaurs".
• Sereno PC (2012) "
Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs".
ZooKeys, 226: 1-225.
DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.226.2840. [SAM-PK-K1332 image credit]
• Galton PM (2014) "
Notes on the postcranial anatomy of the heterodontosaurid dinosaur Heterodontosaurus tucki, a basal ornithischian from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa".
Revue de Paleobiologie, 33(1): 97-141.
• Calvert C, Hunt T, Whalen N, Choiniere J, Norell MA and Erickson G (2023) "
Heterodontosaurus tucki enamel microstructure and dental histology".
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 68(4): 603-612. DOI: 10.4202/app.01060.2023.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
HETERODONTOSAURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/HETERODONTOSAURUS›. Web access: 05th Mar 2026.
as the skeletal remains that were initially with it have since been misplaced. However, better fossils have since been discovered, including a virtually complete specimen (SAM-PK-K1332) that Crompton found in the Upper Elliot Formation on the northern slope of the Kromspruit (Krommespruit) Mountain, Voyizane (Voisana), during a joint South African Museum, Yale University, British Museum, University of London expedition to the "Red Beds" of South Africa and Lesotho in 1966-67.
