Daurosaurus

Daurosaurus is known from a partial skeleton that includes preserved soft parts, which is very rare for dinosaurs.1

It had skin scales that split into bristles, a feature that scientists think may be an early step toward feathers.2

The fossil site was once a lake, and the dinosaur lived in a landscape with lakes and changing plant life.2

Scientists think Daurosaurus may have lived in groups, because the fossil record suggests it was gregarious.1

The age of the rocks where Daurosaurus was found was first thought to be Late Jurassic, but later studies showed it is actually Middle Jurassic, about 168 to 165 million years old.2

Daurosaurus is one of several small plant-eating dinosaurs found at the same site, along with Kulindapteryx and Kulindadromeus.2