Psittacosaurus sinensis
Scientific name: Psittacosaurus sinensis
Click to enlarge image
Image: James Reece
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
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Classification
- Species
- sinensis
- Genus
- Psittacosaurus
- Family
- Psittacosauridae
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- Feeding Habits
- herbivore
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View Fossil Record
- Fossil Record
- Cretaceous Period
(141 million years ago - 65 million years ago)
Introduction
Psittacosaurus sinensis was a small, herbivorous dinosaur which lived around 110 million years ago. It is the most primitive known ceratopsian dinosaur. It was named after the Latin word for parrot, Psittacus, as it had a parrot-like beak.
Feeding and diet
Psittacosaurus sinensis was a plant-eater that had:
- a curved, parrot-like beak that helped it to pry open fruits and seeds
- a cutting beak and self-sharpening cheek teeth that enabled it to grind up tough vegetation and fruits
- short forelegs that it used for grasping foliage.
Evolutionary relationships
Psittacosaurus sinensis was a primitive horned dinosaur or ceratopsian. It belonged to the Asian family Psittacosauridae, several species of which lived during the Early Cretaceous.
