Article: The skull of Fabrosaurus australis, a Triassic ornithischian dinosaur

The skull of Fabrosaurus australis is described in detail. This study is based upon previously undescribed specimens from the late Triassic Red Beds of Lesotho.The presence of a predentary bone at the mandibular symphysis substantiates Ginsburg's concept (1964) of Fabrosaurus as a member of the order Ornithischia—though there is no evidence for any close relationship between Fabrosaurus and the Liassic Scelidosaurus. Certain cranial features (the toothed premaxilla, the inter-parietal suture) indicate that Fabrosaurus should be referred to the family Hypsilophodontidae of the suborder Ornithopoda. Ornithischian origins and ornithopod phylogeny are re-examined in the light of new evidence from Fabrosaurus. Fabrosaurus seems to be a fairly direct antecedent of Hypsilophodon and appears to fulfil many of the requirements of a genuine 'archetypal' Ornithischian.