Dinosaurs · Prosauropod

Thecodontosaurus

Say it theek-o-don-toh-sore-us. The name means ‘socket-toothed lizard’.

Thecodontosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of prosauropods

Length: 2.5 m
Diet: Ate plants and animals
When: Late Triassic227 to 205 million years ago
Fossils found in: England
Named by: Morris (1843)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Sauropodomorpha › Prosauropoda

Where Thecodontosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Prosauropods. Early long-necked plant-eaters, relatives of the sauropods. See all 16

Found in Britain. Fossils of Thecodontosaurus have been found in the United Kingdom. Read about how Britain moved across the globe in Britain's journey.

Lived at the same time

Other prosauropods

Melanorosaurus Late Triassic
Coloradisaurus Late Triassic
Guaibasaurus Late Triassic
Mussaurus Late Triassic
Riojasaurus Late Triassic
Plateosaurus Late Triassic
Massospondylus Early Jurassic
Jingshanosaurus Early Jurassic

Source: Thecodontosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.