Pegomastax

Pegomastax Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 200–190 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Family:	Heterodontosauridae
Genus:	†Pegomastax Sereno, 2012

Lower jaws of specimen SAM-PK-K10488

Pegomastax ("strong jaw") is a genus of small heterodontosaur dinosaur discovered in Lower Jurassic rocks in South Africa. It is based on a skull in the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town.

It was collected during a 1966–1967 expedition but not named and described until recently. Paul Sereno, who had recognized it as unusual in the 1980s, published a description in 2012. The type species is P. africana. Pegomastax differed from other heterodontosaurs by details of the skull. The lower jaw was robust, with a short beak. Like most other heterodontosaurs, Pegomastax had an enlarged canine-like tooth at the beginning of the lower jaw's tooth row, which may have been used for defence. The rest of its teeth were those of a herbivore.