Psittacosaurus


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Psittacosaurus ** Psittacosaurus may have been a herding animal, like some other ceratopsians.

Psittacosaurus was an herbivore, a plant eater. It probably ate plants like cycads and other prehistoric plants with its tough, hook-like beak.

pronounced SIT-ah-co-SAWR-us) Psittacosaurus (meaning "parrot lizard") was a small, very primitive ceratopsian. This fast-moving plant-eater had a narrow, horny beak with no teeth, and cheek teeth towards the rear of the mouth. It had a boxy skull with short, horn-like projections on the cheeks. It had four long fingers on each hand; the arms were much shorter than the legs. The growth lines in //Psittacosaurus mongoliensis// bones (similar to studying tree rings to deduce a tree's age) have led paleontologists to think that it had a life span of at least 10-11 years. The Psittacosaurs ate Plants and possibly small animals.

• Psittacosaurus was a plant-eater in the group known as the ceratopsians, or horn-faced dinosaurs.

• Living in the Middle Cretaceous Period, Psittacosaurus walked the Earth about 115-110 mya.

• Psittacosaurus was named in 1923 from fossils found in Mongolia, Central Asia.

• Fossils of Psittacosaurus have been found at various sites across Asia, including ones in Russia, China, and Thailand.

• The rear legs of Psittacosaurus were longer and stronger than its front legs, suggesting that this dinosaur may have reared up to run fast on its rear legs, rather than running on all four legs.

• Psittacosaurus measured about 7ft (2m) long.

• On each foot Psittacosaurus had four toes.

• The name Psittacosaurus means "parrot reptile," after the dinosaur's beak-shaped mouth, like that of a parrot.

• Inside its cheeks, Psittacosaurus had many sharp teeth capable of cutting and slicing through tough plant material.