Name: Psittacosaurus
Geologic Age:
Cretaceous
Location: Inner Mongolia, China
Description: This is a juvenile
Psittacosaurus.. I've had this specimen sitting in inventory since 2006
and just "found" it! This little cutie comes in sections that are glued
together and then can be constructed like a jigsaw puzzle. The bone
quality is very good and even all the fine ribs are present.. I believe
that this is ONE Psittacosaur and not a composite.. the bone quality is so
even throughout the skeleton.. The skull is compressed sideways
slightly, but does show teeth on both sides of the mouth.. This one is a
candidate to have mounted, or as I had planned on doing, laying it out in a
bed of black or red sand for display.. that will look very cool! This
little guy measures approx. 14" long. Now a little bit about
Psittacosaurus..
The ceratopsids are divided into two groups: the
Early Cretaceous psittacosaurids, or parrot-beaked dinosaurs, and the Late
Cretaceous neoceratopsids, that unites two groups of horned dinosaurs,
protoceratopsids and ceratopsids. The psittacosaurids, known only from the
late Early Cretaceous of Central Asia, are considered to be close to an
ancestor of the horned dinosaurs. Both the parrot-beaked and horned dinosaurs
possessed jaws, being curved and tapered forward and the lateral teeth highly
specialized to
masticate the vegetative food. Psittacosaurids were relatively small , up to 2
meters in length,, and mostly bipedal cursors although the forelimbs in these
dinosaurs were relatively long and well-developed. This bi-pedal
dinosaur is thought to have been a precursor to the horned dinosaurs (ceratopsians),
which include such well-known forms as Triceratops. The name for this
dinosaur, Psittacosaurus, means the 'parrot-lizard' referring to its prominent
parrot-like beak. This beak was one of the principal advances from the
fabrosaurids and hypsilophodontids which gave rise to it. Psittacosaurus was
the first step on the path towards the four-footed, horned descendants that
were to appear more than twenty millions years later. It had a special bone
called the rostral, found elsewhere only in the horned dinosaurs. In many ways
like the construction of its teeth, it is still very similar to
hypsilophodonts.. THIS IS A TRUE
DINOSAUR.
Psittacosaurus Dinosaur 1
Price $2000.00
