Yinlong

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Yinlong
Temporal range:
Ma
↓
Fossil skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Ceratopsia
Family: †Chaoyangsauridae
Genus: †Yinlong
Xu et al., 2006
Species:
†Y. downsi
Binomial name
†Yinlong downsi
Xu et al., 2006

Yinlong (

bipedal herbivore.[1][2]

Discovery and species

A coalition of

paleontologists, including Xu Xing, Catherine Forster, Jim Clark, and Mo Jinyou, described and named Yinlong in 2006. The generic name is derived from the Mandarin Chinese words 隱 (yǐn: "hidden") and 龍 (lóng: "dragon"), a reference to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, large portions of which were filmed in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, near the locality where this animal's fossil remains were discovered. Long is the word most often used in the Chinese media when referring to dinosaurs. The species was named after the American vertebrate paleontologist William Randall Downs III, a frequent participant in paleontological expeditions to China who died the year before Yinlong was discovered.[1]

The known fossil material of Yinlong consists of many skeletons and skulls.

Cretaceous Period
.

Description

Life reconstruction of Y. downsi

Yinlong was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length and 10 kg (22 lb) in body mass.[3] Despite a virtually frill-less and totally hornless skull, Yinlong is a ceratopsian. Its skull is deep and wide and relatively large compared to most ornithischians, but also proportionately smaller than most other ceratopsians. Long robust hindlimbs and shorter slender forelimbs with three-fingered hands suggests a bipedal lifestyle like many small ornithopods.[1][3]

Classification

A small

Heterodontosauriformes. However, this hypothesis was not supported by a subsequent analysis of basal ornithischians that was carried out as part of a study on the postcranial anatomy of Yinlong, which resolved the below phylogeny of Ceratopsia.[7]

Restoration of Yinlong hiding from two Guanlong
Ceratopsia

Albalophosaurus

Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

Chaoyangsauridae

Stenopelix valdensis

Yinlong downsi

Chaoyangsaurus youngi

Xuanhuaceratops niei

Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis

Neoceratopsia

Liaoceratops yanzigouensis

Archaeoceratops oshimai

Koreaceratops hwaseongensis

Yamaceratops dorngobiensis

Aquilops americanus

Auroraceratops rugosus

Mosaiceratops azumai

Leptoceratops gracilis

Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi

Protoceratops andrewsi

Diet

Yinlong was discovered with seven

digestive tract and used to grind plant material, are also found in other ceratopsians such as Psittacosaurus, and are also widely distributed in most other dinosaur groups, including birds.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3566
  2. ^ a b c Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix.
  3. ^
    OCLC 985402380
    .
  4. ^ Zhao X., Cheng Z., & Xu X. 1999. "The earliest ceratopsian from the Tuchengzi Formation of Liaoning, China." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(4): 681-691.
  5. ^ Cooper, M.R. 1985. "A revision of the ornithischian dinosaur Kangnasaurus coetzeei Haughton, with a classification of the Ornithischia." Annals of the South African Museum 95: 281-317.
  6. ^ You H., Xu X. & Wang X. 2003. "A new genus of Psittacosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) and the origin and early evolution of marginocephalian dinosaurs." Acta Geologica Sinica (English edition) 77: 15–20.
  7. S2CID 90051025
    .

External links

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