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Tianyulong

Say it: tee-AHN-yoo-long

Name means: “sky dragon, named after the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Tianyulong was a tiny dinosaur covered in fuzzy, feather-like filaments. It lived in what is now China and used its beak to munch on plants. This little dinosaur surprised scientists because it showed that even plant-eaters could have fluffy coats!1 2

Lived

168 to 152 million years ago5

Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Jianchang County, western Liaoning Province, China1

Food

Plants1 3

Length

0.7 m1

estimated from related Heterodontosaurus

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 bananas end to end

How big was Tianyulong compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Tianyulong was one of the first ornithischian dinosaurs found with filamentous (fuzzy) structures on its body, similar to the proto-feathers of some theropods.2

The filaments on Tianyulong were long, unbranched, and hollow, reaching about 60 mm (2.4 inches) on its tail.1

Its skull was very large compared to its small neck and body, and its hind legs were much longer than its front legs.1

Tianyulong belonged to a group called heterodontosaurids, which had a pair of enlarged canine-like tusks.1

The only known species is Tianyulong confuciusi, named after the Chinese philosopher Confucius.1

At first scientists thought Tianyulong lived in the Early Cretaceous, but later dating of the rocks showed it was from the Middle Jurassic, about 158.5 million years ago.1

Tianyulong is known from several specimens, but all were collected by private collectors, so their exact location is uncertain.1

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

?How big was Tianyulong?

About 70 centimetres long, with its tail making up about 44 centimetres of that length. It was about the size of a cat.1 4

?Did Tianyulong have feathers?

It had long, hollow, unbranched filaments on its back, tail and neck that look like primitive feathers, called proto-feathers. Scientists are not sure if these are true feathers or something that evolved separately.1 2

?What did Tianyulong eat?

It was herbivorous or possibly omnivorous, using its beak to munch on plants. It also had a pair of enlarged canine-like tusks.1

?When did Tianyulong live?

It lived during the Middle Jurassic period, about 158.5 million years ago. Scientists first thought it was from the Early Cretaceous, but later dating of the rocks showed it was older.1

?Where was Tianyulong found?

Its fossils were discovered in Jianchang County, Western Liaoning Province, China. All specimens were collected by private collectors, so the exact location is uncertain.1

?Is Tianyulong a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a small ornithischian dinosaur called a heterodontosaurid. It is not a bird or a pterosaur.1

Ask Rex about Tianyulong

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think only meat-eating dinosaurs had feathers or fuzzy coats.

Truth: Tianyulong shows that plant-eating ornithischian dinosaurs also had filamentous structures, suggesting that fuzzy coverings were common among many dinosaur groups.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Tianyulong
Named by: Zheng et al. 20095
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Heterodontosauridae5
Classification: Ornithischia > Heterodontosauridae5
Age of the rocks: 168 to 152 million years (Bathonian / Kimmeridgian)5
Rock formations: Tiaojishan5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Tianyulong was named and described in 2009 by Xiao-Ting Zheng and colleagues, based on a fossil housed at the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature in China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether the filamentous structures on Tianyulong are true proto-feathers or just collagen fibers under the skin.1

Where the facts come from

Tianyulong (en.wikipedia.org)
An Early Cretaceous heterodontosaurid dinosaur with filamentous integumentary structures | Nature (nature.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Tianyulong – a fuzzy dinosaur that makes the origin of feathers fuzzier | National Geographic (nationalgeographic.com)
Tianyulong 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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