Chaoyangsaurus

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Learn more about Chaoyangsaurus

Quick Facts
Name	Chaoyangsaurus
Diet	Herbivore
Weight	10 kg
Length	1.1 meters
Height
Period	Late Jurassic

Chaoyangsaurus was a marginocephalic dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic of China between 150.8 and 145.5 million years ago. Its name means "Chaoyang's lizard" after the Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young. The fossils were found in the Chaoyang area of Liaoning province in northeastern China.

Not much is known about this dinosaur, but it was characterized by a bony ledge or margin on the back of the skull. It is likely that these margins were used as a lure to attract mates. It was a plant-eating dinosaur with gastroliths to aid in the digestion of hard plant materials until they convergently evolved tooth batteries in Neoceratopsia and Pachycephalosauria. They were small bipedal dinosaurs that probably stood on four.

The size of Chaoyangsaurus was uncertain due to the lack of fossils, but it was estimated to be about 1 meter long.

What did Chaoyangsaurus eat?

It was a herbivorous dinosaur with gastroliths to aid in the digestion of hard plant matter until tooth batteries convergently evolved in Neoceratopsia and Pachycephalosauria.

What does Chaoyangsaurus mean?

The name Chaoyangsaurus means "Chaoyang's lizard" in honor of the Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young.

When was Chaoyangsaurus found?

The fossils were found in the Chaoyang area of Liaoning province in northeast China.

Where did they live?

When did they live?

What was your diet?

Who discovered them?

What kind of dinosaurs are they?

What type of species are they?

How are they classified?

References

Zhao, X., Cheng, Z., & Xu, X. (1999). "The earliest ceratopsian from the Tuchengzi Formation of Liaoning, China." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19(4): 681-691 [December 13, 1999].
X. Zhao. 1983. Phylogeny and evolutionary stages of Dinosauria. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 28(1-2):295-306.
X. Zhao. 1985. [The Jurassic Reptilia.] In S.-e. Wang, Z. Cheng & N. Wang (eds.), [The Jurassic System of China. Stratigraphy of China, No. 11] 286-290 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano].
Z. Dong. 1992. Dinosaurian Faunas of China. China Ocean Press, Beijing 1-188
P. C. Sereno. 1999. The evolution of dinosaurs. Science 284:2137-2147.
http://dinodata.de/animals/dinosaurs/pages_c/chaoyangsaurus.php
X. Zhao, Z. Cheng, X. Xu and P. J. Makovicky. 2006. A new ceratopsian from the Upper Jurassic Houcheng Formation of Hebei, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 80(4):467-473.
F. Han, C. A. Forster, J. M. Clark and X. Xu. 2015. A new taxon of basal ceratopsian from China and the early evolution of Ceratopsia. PLoS ONE 10(12):e0143369:1-23.
W. Zheng, X. Jin, and X. Xu. 2015. A psittacosaurid-like basal neoceratopsian from the Upper Cretaceous of central China and its implications for basal ceratopsian evolution. Scientific Reports 5:14190:1-9.

Fun Facts

Chaoyangsaurus was a marginocephalic dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic of China between 150.8 and 145.5 million years ago.
Its name means "Chaoyang's lizard" in honor of the Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young.
They were small bipedal dinosaurs that probably stood on four.
It was a plant-eating dinosaur with gastroliths that helped it digest tough plant materials.