Fun Chaoyangsaurus Facts For Kids

Dinosaurs came in a variety of sizes and shapes. The Chaoyangsaurus was a small-sized dinosaur.

This is one of the earliest known Ceratopsians, discovered in Liaoning province, China. Yes, this tiny dinosaur is the ancestor of the Triceratops, the giant three-horned dinosaur featured in the first Jurassic Park film franchise. This Dinosauria Ornithischia member, also known as the Chaoyang lizard, lived during the Tithonian period of the late Jurassic era.

Everything known about the Chaoyangsaurus youngi comes from an incomplete specimen discovered in the Tuchengzi formation of Liaoning, China. The information was compiled and described in an article within the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. This article discusses 19 fascinating facts about this dinosaur. For instance, why was there ambiguity in naming the Chaoyang lizard?

What was the Chaoyangsaurus diet like? Was the dinosaur capable of swimming? What is the Chaoyangsaurus pronunciation? How different was it compared to other dinosaurs? What was its taxonomic classification?

It is time to learn more about where the Chaoyangsaurus lived, its physical description, its diet, and more. Discover fascinating facts about some of the earliest known dinosaurs, such as the Bagaceratops and the Vagaceratops.

Chaoyangsaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce Chaoyangsaurus?

The Chaoyangsaurus pronunciation is chow-yahng-sore-us.

What type of dinosaur was a Chaoyangsaurus?

The Chaoyangsaurus belonged to a diverse suborder of horned dinosaurs or Ceratopsians and the order of Dinosauria Ornithischia.

In which geological period did Chaoyangsaurus roam the Earth?

The Chaoyangsaurus youngi roamed the Earth between 152 million years ago to 145 million years ago. These years fall under the Tithonian period of the late Jurassic era to the early Cretaceous geological period.

When did the Chaoyangsaurus become extinct?

The exact time when the Chaoyangosaurus became extinct remains a mystery. However, paleontologists believe that this dinosaur species lasted until the early Cretaceous period (around 145 million years ago).

Where did the Chaoyangsaurus live?

The Chaoyangosaurus was a terrestrial or land-dwelling dinosaur. Due to the unique structure on its back, some scientists believed that the dinosaur could have been capable of swimming.

What was the Chaoyangsaurus' habitat?

Fossils of the Chaoyang lizard have been found in the Tuchengzi formation of Liaoning, China. This shows that the habitat of the Chaoyangsaurus was the transitional Tuchengzi environment. The late Jurassic environment was characterized as a dry or semi-arid region. Ershijiazi, Chaoyang, where the partial specimen was found, was in a Tithonian/Valanginian fluvial mudstone.

Who did the Chaoyangsaurus live with?

The Chaoyangsaurus was a gregarious dinosaur species. Fossil evidence suggests that the Chaoyangsaurus lived with other dinosaurs existing in the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous period. These other dinosaurs include species such as Raptors, Theropods, and the Pterosaur Orientognathus.

How long did a Chaoyangsaurus live?

The lifespan of the Chaoyang lizard has yet to be ascertained. According to research, this Dinosauria Ornithischia member was preyed upon by an unknown raptor species.

How did they reproduce?

Like other Ceratopsians, the Chaoyangosaurus was an oviparous dinosaur which reproduced by laying eggs. The Chaoyangosaurus youngi adult must have taken care of its young. Information on mating, nesting, and other reproduction details like litter size, incubation period, and fledging period have yet to be studied.

Chaoyangsaurus Fun Facts

What did the Chaoyangsaurus look like?

The Chaoyangsaurus was a small-sized dinosaur that had some distinct physical features. The dinosaur was bipedal, so it moved using only two legs. On the backside of the Chaoyangsaurus youngi's head, there was a ridge-like structure. Its lower beak was slightly hooked. These horned-like physical characteristics led them to be classified as the earliest known Ceratopsians.

The early Cretaceous period species had shorter arms compared to their legs and a large head. The skull was around 5.51 in (140 mm) in size and had a beak-like snout.

The dinosaur may have had a body with a fluffy texture or had quills on its tails. Compared to its predecessors, the Chaoyansaurus size was tiny, some being as small as 2 ft (60.96 cm).

A full description of the Chaoyangsaurus youngi was found in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology by the research conducted by Zhao Xijin, Cheng Zhengwu, and Xu Xing. According to the study, the new species had some characteristics that suggested a relationship between two dinosaur families: the Ceratopsia and the Heterodontosauridae.

How many bones did a Chaoyangsaurus have?

The number of bones that the Chaoyang lizard had is yet to be ascertained. The incomplete specimen found in the Tuchengzi formation of Liaoning, China, included some scattered bones from the body and skull fragments.

How did they communicate?

This social Marginocephalian dinosaur from Liaoning province, China, may have used a range of calls to alert the group when there were predators. The quills on its back may have been used as a signaling tool or to attract mates.

How big was the Chaoyangsaurus?

The Chaoyangsaurus was a small Dinosauria Ornithischia whose length would have ranged between 1.96-3 ft (60-91.44 cm). The exact Chaoyangsaurus height is unknown.

It may have been in the same size range as other Tithonian dinosaurs like the Liaoceratops. Another late Jurassic member, the Xuanhuaceratops, had a similar length to C. youngi. However, this was nothing compared to the length of Sauropods like the Mamenchisauridae which was 60 ft (18.28 m) found in the Tuchengzi formation.

How fast could a Chaoyangsaurus move?

The speed at which a Chaoyangsaurus moved is unknown. However, the small Chaoyangsaurus size may have allowed it to move quite fast. This speed and agility would have allowed these tiny dinosaurs to escape predators quickly. However, these assertions are yet to be proved due to a lack of conclusive evidence about this intriguing species.

How much did a Chaoyangsaurus weigh?

The Chaoyangsaurus weight ranged between 20 lb-30 lb (9.07 kg-13.60 kg). This was barely anything compared to some of its predecessors like the Pentaceratops, which is estimated to have weighed around 11,023.1 lb (5,000 kg).

What were male and female names of the species?

The dinosaur species' male and female adults do not have different names.

What would you call a baby Chaoyangsaurus?

The baby would be referred to either as young or juvenile.

What did they eat?

This herbivore dinosaur used to consume low-lying vegetation present in the Tuchengzi formation of Liaoning, China. Plants like ferns could have been part of their diet. The dinosaur would have used its beak and chisel-shaped teeth in the jaw to break down and chew tough vegetation.

How aggressive were they?

It is unknown whether this dinosaur from the Tithonian (late Jurassic) to early Cretaceous geological period was aggressive or not. Researchers have described the dinosaur to be skittish.

The C. youngi was more likely to flee than defend itself against predators. Its special beak would not have been strong enough to defend itself. When confronted with an enemy, the ridge on its skull may have served as protection.

Did you know...

Zhao, Cheng, and Xu (1999) named this member of the Dinosauria Ornithischia.

The Chaoyang lizard closely resembles the Psittacosaurus.

The dinosaur specimen is referred to as IGCAGS V371.

The distinct pelvic structure of the C. youngi places it under the order of Ornithischia (bird-hipped).

Why are they called Chaoyangsaurus?

Before the actual discovery of the specimen, there were many accounts of the dinosaur in the '80s. In early texts, the dinosaur was known as Chaoyoungosaurus or Chaoyangosaurus. These were declared invalid.

The first description of the earliest known Ceratopsian was given by Zhao, Cheng, and Xu in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The name of the genus was derived from the city where the fossil was recovered, Chaoyang. The species type name of Chaoyangsaurus youngi was given in honor of CC Young, a famous paleontologist from China.

Comparisons with other dinosaurs

The Mesozoic era (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods) had a lot of dinosaurs like Theropods, Ceratopsians, and Sauropods. The Chaoyangsaurus was considered among the smallest and cutest dinosaurs of the time.

Unlike its famous successor the Triceratops, it was not huge in size, it was bipedal, and it did not have distinct horns and a frill on its head. Some of the Chaoyang lizard's anatomy closely resembles that of the Psittacosaurus, another bipedal ceratopsian.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures by reading our Cerasinops facts and our Liaoceratops facts.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable flying dinosaur coloring pages.

*The second image is by Lineart by Teratophoneus of Deviant Art.

*We've been unable to source an image of a Chaoyangsaurus and have used an image of a Triceratops instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of a Chaoyangsaurus, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.