Yinlong

Yinlong is an extinct genus of small ceratopsian dinosaurs from Late Jurassic China. Its fossils preserve an early stage in the evolution of the horned-dinosaur lineage.

Ceratopsia: Ceratopsia is the dinosaur group that includes horned dinosaurs and their close relatives. Yinlong is one of the earliest known members of this lineage.
Yinlong skull: The Yinlong skull is the compact, beaked cranium known from exceptionally informative fossil material. Its anatomy provides the strongest evidence for identifying Yinlong as a ceratopsian.
Shishugou Formation: The Shishugou Formation is a Jurassic rock unit in Xinjiang, northwestern China. Yinlong fossils come from this formation’s Late Jurassic deposits.
Ceratopsian evolution: Ceratopsian evolution is the diversification of the dinosaur lineage that includes horned dinosaurs. Yinlong provides an early fossil point for tracing this lineage’s history.
Ornithischia: Ornithischia is a major dinosaur group characterized by a bird-like arrangement of the pelvis. Ceratopsians, including Yinlong, belong to this broader dinosaur group.
Yinlong postcranial skeleton: The Yinlong postcranial skeleton comprises the vertebrae and limb bones known from its fossil remains. These bones show that the animal was a small, lightly built biped.
Late Jurassic: The Late Jurassic is the final epoch of the Jurassic Period, roughly 161 to 145 million years ago. Yinlong lived during this interval, before the better-known Cretaceous ceratopsians.
Psittacosaurus: Psittacosaurus is an early Cretaceous ceratopsian genus known from abundant fossils in Asia. Its younger fossils allow comparison with the earlier Yinlong and later ceratopsian anatomy.
Basal taxon: A basal taxon is a lineage that branches near the base of a larger evolutionary group. Yinlong’s early position helps clarify how ceratopsian traits accumulated.
Herbivory: Herbivory is a diet based primarily on plants. Yinlong’s beaked jaws and teeth fit plant processing, though its exact diet is unknown.

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CeratopsidaeNarrower topic: Its early form provides context for the long evolutionary history preceding Ceratopsidae.