Liaoningosaurus
Liaoningosaurus was a tiny armoured dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It was so small that a full-grown one was only about as long as a ruler! Scientists think it might have been able to swim and eat fish, which is very unusual for an armoured dinosaur.12
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Fun facts
Liaoningosaurus is the smallest known armoured dinosaur. The first fossil found was only 34 centimetres (about 13 inches) long.2
It had a large bony plate on its belly that looked like a shell. No other armoured dinosaur has such a plate.2
Some scientists think Liaoningosaurus could swim. Its skeleton has features that might help it paddle in water.1
Fossilized fish bones were found inside the stomach of one Liaoningosaurus. This suggests it ate fish, which is rare for an armoured plant-eater.1
Liaoningosaurus lived about 125 to 119 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period.3
It is the oldest known armoured dinosaur that had a tail club. The tail club could have been used for defence.1
More than 20 fossils of Liaoningosaurus have been found, all from young animals. No adult has been discovered yet.1
Most asked questions about Liaoningosaurus
?Was Liaoningosaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, it was a small armoured dinosaur called an ankylosaurid.1
?How big was Liaoningosaurus?
It was tiny. The first fossil found was only 34 centimetres (about 13 inches) long. The largest known specimen was less than 45 centimetres (about 18 inches) long.1
?Did Liaoningosaurus eat fish?
Some scientists think so. Fish bones were found inside the stomach of one fossil, but not all experts agree it ate fish.1
?Could Liaoningosaurus swim?
Maybe. Some scientists think it was semiaquatic because of its shell-like belly plate and other features, but others disagree.1
?Did Liaoningosaurus have a tail club?
It had the handle part of a tail club, but not the big knob at the end. It is the oldest known ankylosaurid to have a tail club handle.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Liaoningosaurus
- Named by
- Xu et al. 20015
- Group
- Armoured dinos
- Family / clade
- Ankylosauridae5
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora5
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)5
- Rock formations
- Yixian5
- Countries
- China5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Liaoningosaurus was named in 2001 by Xu Xing, Wang Xiaolin, and You Hailu. The first fossil was found in Liaoning Province, China, and it was a nearly complete skeleton of a baby dinosaur.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Liaoningosaurus really lived in water and ate fish, or if it was mostly a land animal that sometimes ate fish.1
Where the facts come from
- Liaoningosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- A juvenile ankylosaur from China (ivpp.cas.cn)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- First armoured dinosaur hatchling discovered in China | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Liaoningosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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