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Eocursor
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<p><i>Eocursor</i> (meaning "dawn runner") is <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> of <a href="/facts/Basal_(phylogenetics)/JQPQXpYg">basal</a> <a href="/facts/Ornithischia/g1SAFJvB">ornithischian</a> <a href="/facts/Dinosaur/JRdMqBnq">dinosaur</a> that lived in what is now <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a> during the <a href="/facts/Early_Jurassic/atwEBpDz">Early Jurassic</a>. Remains of this animal have been found in the <a href="/facts/Upper_Elliot_Formation/Uuz4bRMP">Upper Elliot Formation</a> and it is among the most completely known early ornithischians, shedding new light on the origin of the group. </p><p>The exact age of this taxon has been the subject of uncertainty. It was originally interprereted as living during the <a href="/facts/Late_Triassic/TazKYWQN">Late Triassic</a> (<a href="/facts/Norian/MtxaHnyD">Norian</a> age), around 210 <a href="/facts/Mya_(unit)/DXcnXuAw">million years ago</a>; however, <a href="/facts/Paul_E._Olsen/InGxJost">Olsen</a>, Kent & Whiteside (2010) stated that there is no independent <a href="/facts/Geochronology/U8hRTGwL">geochronological</a> support for its assumed age, and the available data makes it impossible to conclusively determine whether <i>Eocursor</i> is of Triassic or <a href="/facts/Early_Jurassic/atwEBpDz">Early Jurassic</a> (potentially as young as <a href="/facts/Sinemurian/D1W2Uwd9">Sinemurian</a>) age. <i>Eocursor</i> was subsequently interpreted as a taxon of Early Jurassic age by McPhee <i>et al.</i> (2017), who identified the specimen as having originated from the Upper (not Lower) Elliot Formation. </p><p>Fossils of <i>Eocursor</i> were originally collected in 1993, but were not formally described until fourteen years later. The <a href="/facts/Type_species/kL03T6V4">type species</a>, <i>Eocursor parvus</i>, was described in 2007 by <a href="/facts/Richard_J._Butler/fWhxLV6h">Richard J. Butler</a>, Roger M. H. Smith, and <a href="/facts/David_B._Norman/J7AgKFBA">David B. Norman</a>. <i>Eocursor</i> was one of the earliest known ornithischians, and sheds some light on early dinosaur relationships because early dinosaurs are known from mostly incomplete skeletons. <i>Eocursor</i> is known from partial skeletal elements, including skull fragments, spinal elements, pelvis, long leg bones, and unusually large grasping hands. </p>