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Ningyuansaurus

Say it: ning-yoo-an-SORE-us

Name means: “Ningyuan lizard”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosEarly Cretaceous

Ningyuansaurus was a small, feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It had a long snout and many teeth, and it ate seeds. It is one of the earliest and most primitive oviraptorosaurs known.2

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago7

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1 2

Food

A bit of everything2

Length

1 m1

estimated from PBDB adult length category

Weight

2.5 kg3

largest known specimen

Height

1 m1

estimated from PBDB adult height category

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

estimated from PBDB adult height category

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 21 bananas

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to endabout as heavy as a house catas heavy as 21 bananasup to the handle of a door

How big was Ningyuansaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Ningyuansaurus had at least 10 teeth in its upper jaw and 14 teeth in its lower jaw, which is a lot for an oviraptorosaur.2

Its thigh bone was longer than its hip bone, which is unusual.2

The tail vertebrae at the tip of its tail were longer than those closer to the body.2

Ningyuansaurus is considered the most primitive oviraptorosaur known because of its many teeth and long skull.2

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 125 to 119 million years ago.1

AI-made picture of Ningyuansaurus — An AI-made picture of how Ningyuansaurus 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 Ningyuansaurus

?How big was Ningyuansaurus?

It was a small dinosaur, about 1 metre long. That is roughly the size of a big chicken.7

?Did Ningyuansaurus have feathers?

Yes, it had feathers. Fossil impressions of feathers were found near the tip of its tail and along its neck.4 5

?What did Ningyuansaurus eat?

It probably ate seeds. Small oval structures found inside its body cavity may be the remains of seeds.4 6

?Is Ningyuansaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. It belongs to the group Theropoda, which includes meat-eating dinosaurs like T. rex.7 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Ningyuansaurus
Named by: Ji et al. 20127
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Oviraptorosauria7
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria7
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)7
Rock formations: Yixian7
Countries: China7
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database7
Discovery: Ningyuansaurus was named by Ji Qiang and colleagues in 2012 based on a complete skeleton with skull and lower jaw found in Liaoning, China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Ningyuansaurus was, because only one skeleton has been found.1

Where the facts come from

PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A new oviraptorosaur from the Yixian Formation of Jianchang, western Liaoning Province, China (caod.oriprobe.com)
Ningyuansaurus wangi | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Ningyuansaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Ningyuansaurus (prehistoric-wildlife.com)
(PDF) A new oviraptorosaur from the Yixian Formation of ... (researchgate.net)
Ningyuansaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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