Genus
Valid Extinct

Archaeocursor

Yao et al. 2025

Archaeocursor is an extinct genus of basal ornithischian dinosaurs from the Early Jurassic Ziliujing Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, A. asiaticus, known from a single femur. Archaeocursor represents the oldest and most basal ornithischian described from Asia.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Archaeocursor
click to enlarge
L01-HY999, the holotype left femur of Archaeocursor asiaticus (photograph and CT image). (A) anterior view. (B) posterior view. (C) lateral view. (D) medial view. (E) proximal view. (F) distal view. Abbreviations: aig, anterior intercondylar groove; alt, anterolateral tuber; at, anterior trochanter; d, depression; d. CFL, depression for the attachment of M. caudofemoralis longus; d. PIFI, depression for the attachment of M. puboischiofemoralis internus; fh, femoral head; ft, fourth trochanter; gt, greater trochanter; lc, lateral condyle; lg, ligament groove; mc, medial condyle; pbp, posterior boundary of the proximal end; pmt, posteromedial tuber; pof, popliteal fossa; s, suture; sop, summit of the proximal end. Scale bar=30 millimeters. © X. Yao, Q. Zhao, T. Ren, G. Wei & X. Xing · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
›
Ornithischia Unranked clade
›
Archaeocursor Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Ziliujing
1
Temporal distribution
Pliensbachian (192.9–184.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Archaeocursor asiaticus 200 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
X. Yao, Q. Zhao, and T. Ren, G. Wei, X. Xu. 2025. New evidence for the earliest ornithischian dinosaurs from Asia. iScience 28(1):111641 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
X. Yao, Q. Zhao, and T. Ren, G. Wei, X. Xu. 2025. New evidence for the earliest ornithischian dinosaurs from Asia. iScience 28(1):111641 DOI ↗