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Incisivosaurus

Say it: in-SIZ-ee-voh-SORE-us

Name means: “incisor lizard”1

Ate: PlantsOdd feathered dinosEarly Cretaceous

Incisivosaurus was a small, feathered dinosaur with a pair of big front teeth that looked like a rodent's incisors. It used these teeth to gnaw on plants, making it one of the first meat-eating dinosaurs known to eat mostly plants.1 2

Lived

126 to 100 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Lujiatun, Shangyuan, Beipiao City, Liaoning, China; Yixian Formation2

Food

Plants1 2

Length

1 to 1.5 m2

estimated based on skull length of about 10 cm

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to end

How big was Incisivosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Incisivosaurus had a pair of very large, chisel-like front teeth that stuck out forward, just like a beaver or rabbit. No other meat-eating dinosaur had teeth like that.1 2

Its cheek teeth were small and shaped like lance heads, with big wear facets from chewing plants. This shows Incisivosaurus chewed its food, unlike many other dinosaurs.1 2

Incisivosaurus lived about 128 million years ago, making it the oldest known oviraptorosaur dinosaur. It was a basal member of this group.1 2

Its skull was low and had teeth, unlike later oviraptorosaurs which had short, toothless beaks. This helps scientists understand how oviraptorosaurs evolved.1 2

The name Incisivosaurus means 'incisor lizard' because of its rodent-like front teeth. The species name gauthieri honors paleontologist Jacques Gauthier.1 2

Incisivosaurus is known from a nearly complete skull and a neck vertebra. Its body size is estimated from the skull, which is about 10 cm long.2

It was a feathered dinosaur, like other oviraptorosaurs, and probably walked on two legs. It was a small dinosaur, about the size of a turkey.4

AI-made picture of Incisivosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Incisivosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Incisivosaurus

?How big was Incisivosaurus?

It was a small dinosaur. Its skull was about 10 cm long.3 1

?What did Incisivosaurus eat?

It ate plants. Its rodent-like front teeth and worn cheek teeth show it was adapted for herbivory.3 1

?Did Incisivosaurus have feathers?

Yes, it had feathers. Two juvenile specimens show long vaned feathers on the hands and tail, and downy feathers on the body.3

?Why did Incisivosaurus have big front teeth?

It used its large, chisel-like front teeth to gnaw on tough plants, similar to rodents.3 1

?When did Incisivosaurus live?

It lived in the early Cretaceous Period, about 126 to 128 million years ago.3 1

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Myth buster

Myth: Incisivosaurus was a meat-eater like most theropods.

Truth: Incisivosaurus had teeth adapted for eating plants, with rodent-like incisors and flat cheek teeth for chewing. It is the first theropod with clear evidence of a herbivorous diet.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Incisivosaurus
Named by: Xu et al. 20024
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Oviraptorosauria4
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria4
Age of the rocks: 126 to 100 million years (Barremian / Albian)4
Rock formations: Fuxin, Yixian, Shahai4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Incisivosaurus was named in 2002 by Xing Xu and colleagues from a skull and neck vertebra found in Liaoning, China. The fossils came from the Yixian Formation, which is about 128 million years old.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Incisivosaurus had feathers all over its body or just on some parts, because only the skull and a neck bone have been found.4

Where the facts come from

An unusual oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from China | Nature (nature.com)
An unusual oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from China (ivpp.cas.cn)
Incisivosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Incisivosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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