Dino card No. 1495 of 2,027

Psittacosaurus

Say it: SIT-uh-kuh-SOR-us

Name means: “parrot lizard”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosEarly Cretaceous

Psittacosaurus was a small, fast dinosaur that looked a bit like a parrot. It had a strong beak for snipping plants and lived in Asia during the Early Cretaceous. Some fossils even show long bristles on its tail!1

Lived

137 to 100 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

China, Mongolia, Russia, and Thailand4 1

Food

Plants1

Length

0.13 to 2.5 m1

hatchlings were about 13 cm long, adults up to 2.5 m

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 1.5 bicycles in a rowas long as 14 bananas end to end

How big was Psittacosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Psittacosaurus is the non-avian dinosaur genus with the most known species, up to 13 different ones.1

One fossil of Psittacosaurus was found with long, bristle-like filaments on its tail, similar to those of the dinosaur Tianyulong.1

Psittacosaurus had a brain that was fairly large for its size, suggesting it may have had complex behaviors and good senses of smell and sight.1

Unlike later horned dinosaurs like Triceratops, Psittacosaurus walked on two legs as an adult and did not have a frill or large horns.1

Psittacosaurus swallowed gastroliths (stomach stones) to help break down tough plant material, sometimes more than 50 stones in one animal.1

The first Psittacosaurus fossil was discovered in Mongolia in 1922 by a chauffeur named Wong during an expedition led by Henry Fairfield Osborn.1

Psittacosaurus could slide its lower jaw forward and backward, which may have helped it crack nuts or seeds.1

AI-made picture of Psittacosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Psittacosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Psittacosaurus

?How big was Psittacosaurus?

About 2 metres (6.5 feet) long and weighed around 50 kilograms (110 pounds). That is about as long as a large bicycle.2 3

?What did Psittacosaurus eat?

It was a herbivore that ate tough plants. It used its strong beak to snip leaves and swallowed gastroliths (stomach stones) to help grind the food.1 2

?Did Psittacosaurus have feathers?

No, it did not have feathers. But one fossil shows long, bristle-like structures on its tail, which may have been modified scales, not feathers.1

?How fast could Psittacosaurus run?

Nobody knows for sure, but it was a small, agile dinosaur that walked on two legs as an adult, so it could probably run quite fast.1 2

?When did Psittacosaurus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 125 to 100 million years ago.1 2

?Where was Psittacosaurus found?

Fossils have been found in China, Mongolia, Russia, and Thailand.1 2

?Why is it called Psittacosaurus?

Its name means 'parrot lizard' in Greek, because its short, deep skull and strong beak look a lot like a parrot's beak.1 3

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Psittacosaurus was a type of parrot dinosaur that could fly.

Truth: Psittacosaurus was a dinosaur that walked on two legs and could not fly. Its name means 'parrot lizard' because of its beak, not because it had wings.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Psittacosaurus
Named by: Osborn 19234
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsia4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia4
Age of the rocks: 137 to 100 million years (Valanginian / Albian)4
Rock formations: Yixian, Ilek, Öösh4
Countries: China, Mongolia, Russia, Thailand4
Fossil records: 70 in the Paleobiology Database4
Also known as: Hongshanosaurus, Protiguanodon (older names now counted as the same animal)4
Discovery: Psittacosaurus was named in 1923 by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn after a nearly complete skull and skeleton were found in Mongolia by a chauffeur named Wong. Osborn gave it the name because its beak looked like a parrot's.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether the species Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis and Psittacosaurus houi are actually the same dinosaur or two different species.1

Where the facts come from

Psittacosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Psittacosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Psittacosaurus (britannica.com)
Psittacosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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