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Pulaosaurus

Say it: poo-lay-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Pulao lizard”1 2

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Pulaosaurus was a small, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It was about the size of a large chicken and may have made chirping sounds like a bird! Its fossil even preserved its voice box, which is very rare for dinosaurs.2 1

Lived

165 to 155 million years ago5

Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Qinglong County, Hebei Province, China1 2

Food

Plants1 2

Length

0.72 m2

juvenile specimen

Weight

1.5 kg to 2 kg4

estimated mass of the juvenile holotype

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 17 bananas

as long as 4 bananas end to endabout as heavy as a house catas heavy as 17 bananas

How big was Pulaosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Pulaosaurus is one of the only non-bird dinosaurs known to have an ossified (bony) larynx, or voice box.2

Its name comes from a mythical Chinese dragon called Pulao, which was said to shout loudly.1 2

The fossil is a nearly complete skeleton, including the skull and traces of the stomach contents.1 2

It lived about 159 million years ago in forests with ginkgo trees, conifers, and ferns.2

Pulaosaurus had five fingers on each hand and leaf-shaped arytenoid cartilages in its throat.1

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

?How big was Pulaosaurus?

About 72 cm long, roughly the size of a large chicken.2

?What did Pulaosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater. Its fossil preserves gut contents that look like plant seeds.2

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think all plant-eating dinosaurs were large.

Truth: Pulaosaurus was a small ornithischian, only about 72 cm long as a juvenile.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Pulaosaurus
Named by: Yang et al. 20255
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Neornithischia5
Classification: Ornithischia5
Age of the rocks: 165 to 155 million years (Callovian / Oxfordian)5
Rock formations: Tiaojishan5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The fossil was collected by Mr. Yong Wang and then studied by scientists at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. It was named Pulaosaurus qinglong in 2025 by Yang and colleagues.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure what sounds Pulaosaurus actually made, but the preserved voice box suggests it could make bird-like calls.2 1

Where the facts come from

PeerJ A new neornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northern China (peerj.com)
Pulaosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Pulaosaurus qinglong | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Pulaosaurus 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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