Yinlong

Say it like this: “yin-long”

Yinlong downsi

Yinlong ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Yinlong

When: Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago
Named in: 2006 · Xu, X.; Forster, C. A.; Clark, J. M.; Mo, J.
Hip height: 0.5 m · 1 ft
Length: 1.2 m · 4 ft
Weight: 10 kg · 22 lb
Found in: China · Shishugou
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two legs
Kind: horned dinosaur · Ceratopsian
Family branch: Chaoyangsauridae

The story in short

The genus Yinlong dates to 2006, the year X. Xu and colleagues described it.

Fossils referred to Yinlong date to the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian), roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Shishugou Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Yinlong at a length near 1.2 m, hips about 0.5 m high, and a body mass around 10 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Chaoyangsauridae, among the horned dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Chaoyangsaurus

Chaoyangsaurus youngi

Late Jurassic · Early Cretaceous (Tithonian · Berriasian) · roughly 149.2 to 137.1 million years ago

Hualianceratops

Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis

Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago

Stenopelix

Stenopelix valdensis

Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago