Dinosauria›Ornithischia
Silhouette of Psittacosaurus sinensis

Psittacosaurus Psittacosaurus sinensis Young 1958

/ˌsɪtəkəˈsɔːrəs/
Early Cretaceous (Albian) · 121.4–100.5 Mya

Key Statistics

Diet
herbivore
Locomotion
quadrupedal
inferred from clade
Habitat
ground-dwelling

Where It Was Found

Country
China
Region
Shandong
Formation
Doushan
Dig sites
2
distinct collections
Recorded finds in China. Present-day positions: the continents have moved since.

Overview

Psittacosaurus sinensis is a ceratopsian dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous, roughly 121.4–100.5 million years ago. It was a herbivore. It is recorded as ground-dwelling. Fossils have been recovered from Shandong, China. It was named by Young 1958. The species is represented by 3 recorded occurrences in the Paleobiology Database.

Fossil Record Completeness

How much of this profile is grounded in the fossil record

~11%
confidence from occurrence count
Based on 3 recorded occurrences in the Paleobiology Database.

Geologic Time

Where Psittacosaurus sinensis sits in deep time

TRIASSIC
JURASSIC
CRETACEOUS
Psittacosaurus
252 Mya201 Mya145 Mya66 Mya

Relationships

Part of a wider fossil web

These species share Psittacosaurus sinensis's place in deep time — computed from overlapping age ranges, shared clades, and inferred ecology. Predator–prey pairs additionally have to have been dug up in the same place.

predator–prey
Yuanchuavis
Yuanchuavis kompsosoura
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coexisted–with
Atlascopcosaurus
Atlascopcosaurus loadsi
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coexisted–with
Ouranosaurus
Ouranosaurus nigeriensis
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coexisted–with
Erectopus
Erectopus superbus
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coexisted–with
Polacanthus
Polacanthus foxii
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coexisted–with
Leaellynasaura
Leaellynasaura amicagraphica
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same–clade
Helioceratops
Helioceratops brachygnathus
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same–clade
Archaeoceratops
Archaeoceratops oshimai
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