Temporal range: Triassic period Riley & Stuchbury, 1836
Thecodontosaurus (meaning "socket-toothed lizard") was a very
early dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period, a
time when the Earth was relatively warm and much of the land was
dry and desert-like. This was around the time that the dinosaurs
were just starting to appear. Fossils of Thecodontosaurus have
been found in southwest England (near Bristol) and Wales, which
were probably dry and desert-like when Thecodontosaurus lived.
Thecodontosaurus was named by Morris in 1843, but was first
described by H. Riley and S. Stutchbury in 1836.