Thescelosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma |
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Reconstructed skeleton, Burpee Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | †Ornithischia |
Family: | †Thescelosauridae |
Subfamily: | †Thescelosaurinae |
Genus: |
†Thescelosaurus Gilmore, 1913 |
Type species | |
†Thescelosaurus neglectus Gilmore, 1913 |
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Species | |
†T. neglectus Gilmore, 1913 |
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Synonyms | |
Bugenasaura Galton, 1995 |
†T. neglectus Gilmore, 1913
†T. garbanii Morris, 1976
†T. assiniboiensis Brown, Boyd, & Russell, 2011
Bugenasaura Galton, 1995
Thescelosaurus (/ˌθɛsᵻləˈsɔːrəs/ THESS-il-ə-SOR-əs; ancient Greek θέσκελος-/theskelos- meaning "godlike", "marvelous", or "wondrous" and σαυρος/sauros "lizard") was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event around 66 million years ago. The preservation and completeness of many of its specimens indicate that it may have preferred to live near streams.