Psittacosaurus meileyingensis
OF SCIENTIFIC INTEREST - with rarely preserved remnants of carbonized skin!
Cretaceous age, Jiufotang Formation, Meileyingenzi, Liaoning Province, N.E. China. Dinosaur measures 31" (79cm) long!
This extraordinary specimen of P. Meileyingensis is 100% original fossilized dinosaur skeleton ie. no bones whatsoever have been taken from another specimen, to complete the dinosaur.
OF SCIENTIFIC INTEREST - rarely preserved remnants of carbonized skin tissue can be seen, particularly on the skull and sacrum (pelvis).
Recent discoveries have determined that Psittacosaurs had exceptionally thick skin - very much like that of sharks.
The carbon remnants are mainly scattered in small clusters with larger consolidated patches up to 3/4" square!
Vertebrae (with dorsal & lateral processes) comprise separate sections with individual bones fixed together. The vertebral column is retained as fossilized.
Imagine a creature that's a cross between a dinosaur and a bird and you'll get a good idea.. The scientists search the dinosaurs fossil buried in rocks. many fossils found in these same rocks indicate that the area used to be at the bottom of a lake in a heavily forested area. the Skelton in the animal's feet were strongly curved. On the size of its skull bones, the scientists tell that the animal was not fully grown. They don't know how much bigger it might have become. All the dinosaurs shown in the mural lived about many years ago .

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