Geranosaurus (meaning "crane reptile") is a genus of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. The type and only species is G. atavus.

Description

Geranosaurus is known only from crushed fragments of the skull, a single jaw bone with nine tooth stubs and limb elements discovered in the Clarens Formation, South Africa in 1871. It was around 0.6 m tall and around 1.2 m long when fully grown. The type species, G. atavus, was described by Robert Broom in 1911. The genus name is derived from Greek geranos, "crane", a reference to the crane-like hind-limb. The specific name means "ancestor" in Latin. The limb elements have inventory number SAM 1871.

Classification

Geranosaurus is classified as an ornithischian based on the jaw, probably a heterodontosaurid distinct from Heterodontosaurus but not a heterodontosaurine. Because of its limited remains, Geranosaurus is generally considered a nomen dubium, but it may be distinct because it has the unique combination of an enlarged caniniform, which is a synapomorphy of Heterodontosauridae, and no post-caniniform diastema, which excludes it from Heterodontosaurinae.