DinoDex
Front view of a crouching green Psittacosaurus with a parrot-like beak and cheek horns
Reconstruction of a male Psittacosaurus mongoliensis crouching.图片来源：PaleoEquii, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (unmodified except resizing)CC BY-SA 4.0（未修改）来源（在新标签页中打开）

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

读音： SIT-ah-koh-SORE-us mon-goh-lee-EN-sis

Ceratopsia

The "parrot lizard", a small two-legged early horned dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia with a deep, beaked skull. Its genus is known from hundreds of skeletons, and one specimen kept skin, colour and bristles on its tail.

  • Bipedal
  • Skin impressions known
  • Exceptional preservation
对比
时代
白垩纪· 早白垩世
食性
植食性
体长
2 m
体重
未知
地点
Övörkhangai Province, Mongolia, Asia

快速问答

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis有多大？
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis体长约2 m。髋部高约0.5–0.6 m。 (Wikipedia: Psittacosaurus 2026; Paul 2016)
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis生活在什么时候？
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis生活在早白垩世，约1.431亿至1.005亿年前。 (Paleobiology Database: Psittacosaurus mongoli… 2026)
在哪里发现过Psittacosaurus mongoliensis的化石？
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis的化石发现于Öösh Formation (Övörkhangai Province)和Mongolia。 (Osborn 1923; Mayr et al. 2002)
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis吃什么？
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis是植食性。 (Osborn 1923; Mayr et al. 2002)
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis由谁命名，何时命名？
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis由Henry Fairfield Osborn于1923年描述。 (Osborn 1923; Paleobiology Database: Psittacosaurus mongoli… 2026)

本页内容

时代
白垩纪143.1–100.5 Ma
食性
植食性
体长
2 m
体重
未知
产地
Mongolia, Asia
分类
Ceratopsia
命名
1923, Henry Fairfield Osborn

概览

此内容目前仅提供英文版。

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia. During the American Museum's Central Asiatic Expedition of 1922, the expedition's driver, Wong, found a nearly complete skeleton at Red Mesa, Artsa Bogdo, in the Oshih Basin, and Henry Fairfield Osborn named it in 1923 for its parrot-like beak.

It was one of the earliest ceratopsians, a distant relative of Triceratops without horns or a large frill, with a short, deep skull, a strong beak and small bony cheek bosses. Adults walked on two legs, and the largest P. mongoliensis reached about 2 m.

Psittacosaurus is the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur genus and one of the best known, with growth series from hatchlings to adults. A Chinese Psittacosaurus specimen preserves long bristles on the tail (Mayr et al. 2002) and a countershaded skin pattern suggesting it lived in forests (Vinther et al. 2016).

名称含义

"Parrot lizard", from Greek psittakos and sauros, for its beak; mongoliensis for Mongolia (Osborn 1923).

生物学与证据

科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。

运动方式

  • Adult Psittacosaurus walked on two legs.

    证据等级：有力证据

    Its short arms could not reach the ground in a walking pose; young individuals may have used all four legs.

皮肤与体表覆盖

  • Psittacosaurus was countershaded and lived in forests.

    证据等级：中等证据

    Its dark back grading into a light belly matches the camouflage best suited to diffuse light under a canopy. The specimen is an undetermined Chinese species.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 皮肤印痕 · Psittacosaurus colour pattern (SMF R 4970)

      Fossil melanin in the skin of Psittacosaurus sp. SMF R 4970 from the Jehol Biota shows a dark back, a light belly and a gradual transition, tested on a life-size model under different light.

  • Psittacosaurus had long bristles on its tail.

    证据等级：直接证据

    They are preserved on a Chinese Psittacosaurus specimen; whether they are related to the filaments of theropods is not established. Not known for P. mongoliensis itself.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 皮肤印痕 · Psittacosaurus tail bristles

      A Psittacosaurus from the Early Cretaceous of China with well-preserved skin and long, bristle-like structures on the upper part of the tail.

Abdominal skin of Psittacosaurus sp. SMF R 4970 under polarised and fluorescent light, evidence of countershaded colouring (Vinther et al. 2016).图片来源：Jakob Vinther, Robert Nicholls, Stephan Lautenschlager, Michael Pittman, Thomas G. Kaye, Emily Rayfield, Gerald Mayr & Innes C. Cuthill, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0来源（在新标签页中打开）

体型

体长
2 m

（6.6 英尺）

身高
0.5 m文献范围 0.5–0.6 m

（1.6 英尺）

依据 adults

体重
未知
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis 体长约 2 米（6.6 英尺），约为身高 1.8 米的成年人的 1.1 倍。

时间线

生活在约 143.1 至 100.5 百万年前（Ma），属于中生代（252–66 Ma）。

时代： 早白垩世 (145–100.5 Ma)

PBDB bins the type collection only as "Early Cretaceous" (143.1-100.5 Ma); the Oshih locality is usually given as Aptian-Albian (secondary), and the genus as about 125-105 Ma.

产地

地层

地图数据：Natural Earth（公有领域）。显示的是现代位置，而非当时大陆的位置。

这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。

生态系统

生活于： Öösh (Oshih Basin)

143.1–100.5 百万年前 · 其他

Early Cretaceous terrestrial beds of the Oshih Basin in central Mongolia; PBDB records the setting only as "terrestrial indet.", and the sources we opened do not describe it further.

分类

  1. 演化支Dinosauria
  2. 演化支Ornithischia
  3. 演化支Ceratopsia
  4. 属Psittacosaurus
  5. 种Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

分类地位： 有效

化石记录

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis skeleton on display at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main.图片来源：Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, Naturmuseum SenckenbergCC0 1.0来源（在新标签页中打开）
标本
编号类型收藏机构发现年份
AMNH 6254 “Red Mesa skeleton”正模标本American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)1922

已发现的部分

正模标本: AMNH 6254 “Red Mesa skeleton”

  • 保存
  • 部分保存
  • 复原
  • 未知 / 未记录
按部位查看（表格）
正模标本: AMNH 6254 “Red Mesa skeleton” 的骨骼部位
部位状态
Skull保存
Mandible保存
Teeth未知 / 未记录
Cervical vertebrae未知 / 未记录
Dorsal vertebrae未知 / 未记录
Sacrum未知 / 未记录
Caudal vertebrae未知 / 未记录
Ribs未知 / 未记录
Gastralia未知 / 未记录
Scapula / shoulder girdle未知 / 未记录
Humerus未知 / 未记录
Forearm (radius / ulna)未知 / 未记录
Hand (manus)未知 / 未记录
Pelvis未知 / 未记录
Femur未知 / 未记录
Tibia / fibula未知 / 未记录
Foot (pes)未知 / 未记录
Skeletal reconstruction of Psittacosaurus sp. SMF R 4970, a specimen of uncertain species, with its body outline (Vinther et al. 2016).图片来源：Jakob Vinther, Robert Nicholls, Stephan Lautenschlager, Michael Pittman, Thomas G. Kaye, Emily Rayfield, Gerald Mayr & Innes C. Cuthill, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0来源（在新标签页中打开）

全部标本

发现

命名年份
1923
命名者
Henry Fairfield Osborn
模式标本
AMNH 6254

发现时间线

  1. 1922 · 首次发现材料

    Red Mesa Psittacosaurus skeleton found

    The expedition driver finds a nearly complete skeleton in the Oshih Basin.

    人物：Wong (expedition driver), Roy Chapman Andrews

  2. 1923 · 正式命名

    Osborn names Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

    Named in American Museum Novitates together with Protiguanodon, later found to be the same animal.

    人物：Henry Fairfield Osborn

  3. 2016 · 重要研究

    Psittacosaurus colour pattern reconstructed

    Vinther and colleagues reconstruct countershading from fossil melanin.

    人物：Jakob Vinther, Gerald Mayr

参考文献

  1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Psittacosaurus mongoliensis type collection 48936. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/colls/list.json?coll_id=48936&show=paleoloc,strat,loc,ref,geo&pgm=gplates&vocab=pbdb（在新标签页中打开）
  2. (2026). Wikipedia: Psittacosaurus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosaurus（在新标签页中打开）
  3. Mayr, G., Peters, D. S., Plodowski, G. & Vogel, O. (2002). Bristle-like integumentary structures at the tail of the horned dinosaur Psittacosaurus. Naturwissenschaften 89: 361-365. doi:10.1007/s00114-002-0339-6（在新标签页中打开）
  4. Osborn, H. F. (1923). Two Lower Cretaceous dinosaurs of Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 95: 1-10.
  5. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
  6. Vinther, J., Nicholls, R., Lautenschlager, S., Pittman, M., Kaye, T. G., Rayfield, E., Mayr, G. & Cuthill, I. C. (2016). 3D camouflage in an ornithischian dinosaur. Current Biology 26: 2456-2462. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.065（在新标签页中打开）