Animal Species:Psittacosaurus sinensis

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.

Psittacosaurus

Psittacosaurus
© Australian Museum

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.


 

Feeding Habit

herbivore

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Era / Period

Cretaceous Period

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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.

Classification

Species:
sinensis
Genus:
Psittacosaurus
Family:
Psittacosauridae

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Tags chinese dinosaurs, Cretaceous, plant-eater, plant eating, herbivorous, herbivore,