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bird-hipped dinosaur
Xiaosaurus
Say it like this: “shyow-SOR-us”
Xiaosaurus dashanpensis
Xiaosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
- Named in
- 1983 · Dong, Z.; Tang, Z.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1 m · 3 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- China · Shaximiao
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
- Family branch
- Ornithischia
The story in short
In 1983, Z. Dong and Z. Tang published the name Xiaosaurus.
Fossils referred to Xiaosaurus date to the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian), roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Shaximiao Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Xiaosaurus at a length near 1 m.
On the family tree it sits in Ornithischia, among the bird-hipped dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Alocodon
Alocodon kuehnei
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago
Amtosaurus
Amtosaurus magnus
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian · Turonian) · roughly 100.5 to 89.8 million years ago
Archaeocursor
Archaeocursor asiaticus
Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago