Genus
Valid Extinct

Eocursor

Butler et al. 2007

Eocursor is genus of basal ornithischian dinosaur that lived in what is now South Africa during the Early Jurassic. Remains of this animal have been found in the Upper Elliot Formation and it is among the most completely known early ornithischians, shedding new light on the origin of the group.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Eocursor
click to enlarge
Skeletal reconstruction of Eocursor parvus, a prionodontian neornithischian (after Butler et al., 2010). © D. B. Norman, M. G. Baron, M. S. Garcia & R. T. Müller · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
›
Ornithischia Unranked clade
›
Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Eocursor Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇿🇦 South Africa
1
Geological formations
Elliot
1
Temporal distribution
Sinemurian (199.5–192.9 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Eocursor parvus 201 Ma
News 1
Eocursor: Prehistoric Beast of the Week
Eocursor: Prehistoric Beast of the Week
South Africa Dinosauria Eocursor
This week we are going to check out a little dinosaur that gives us insight into the origins of some of the most iconic dinosaurs, Eocursor parvus!  Eocursor translates to "Dawn Runner" because it was a very early dinosaur and its extremely long legs show us that it was probably a fast runner.  From snout to tail it only measured about 3 feet (roughly 1m) and was a plant-eater.  It lived about 210 million years ago in what is now South Africa and was discovered in the 1990s but wasn't formally d
17/05/2026 prehistoricbeastoftheweek
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
R. J. Butler, R. M. H. Smith, and D. B. Norman. 2007. A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa, and the early evolution and diversification of Ornithischia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:2041-2046 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
R. J. Butler, R. M. H. Smith, and D. B. Norman. 2007. A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa, and the early evolution and diversification of Ornithischia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:2041-2046 DOI ↗