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Description
Scientific Name: Psittacosaurus mongoliensis
Pronunciation: sit-ah-co-sore-us
Meaning in Latin: ‬Parrot lizard
Code Name: Taco
Discovered by: Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1923
Classification: Animalia, Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia

Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 126 to 101 million years ago
Location: ‬Asia, China, Mongolia and Russia. Possibly also Thailand.
Length: 1.5 to 2 meters (5 to 6.5 feet) long
Weight: 15 to 20 kilogrammes (33 to 44 lbs)
Diet: Herbivore

A parrot-beaked primitive ceratopsian, Psittacosaurus was one of the Cretaceous period's greatest success stories: the genus survived around 25 millionyears and comprised more known species than any other non-avian dinosaur. While most left only a single species to the fossil record, Psittacosaurus has 11 varieties found in deposits across China, Mongolia and Russia. In 1923 Henry Fairfield Osborn discovered the first in Mongolia and the subsequent discovery of more than 400 specimens marks Psittacosaurus out as one of the best-understood dinosaurs. But in the 1990s a fossil illegally exported from China to Germany, and consequently unattributed as yet to any particular species, added new interest to this seemingly familiar herbivore. An exquisite skeleton from the famous Liaoning province shows distinct traces of bristles, comparable to Tianyulong but in this case pluming up from its tail. There are around 100 in all, the longest up to 16 centimeters (6 inch). The fact that they protrude upwards in a single slender row removes the possibility that they served as insulation. A German team led by paleontologist Gerald Mayr published the first close study in 2001 and noted that if they were coloured they may have been used for signalling, like modern birds' ornamental feathers. This aside, Psittacosaurus was remarkable for its plain appearance when compared with huge ceratopsians of the Late Cretaceous. Its head was tortoise-like, almost cubic in some especially blunt-snouted species, and the nearest thing it had to Triceratops' spikes and frills were a pair of stubby spikes jutting from the back of its jaws. It also differed from its later relatives by being bipedal, research in 2007 showed that its forelimbs could not even touch the ground. Its predators were many but most interestingly included the mammal Repenomamus. [1]

An unspecified species name also has a remarkable discovery made by scientists; they were able to decipher the colour pattern of the dinosaur through the use of melanosomes, fossilised organelles that synthesize and store the pigment melanin in vertebrate animals and are present in hair, feathers and skin. It also was the first time researchers were able to hypothesize the environment a dinosaur inhabited based on its coloration. Psittacosaurus was mainly brown but with a paler underside of the tail and belly, a pattern called countershading that may have helped the small bipedal plant-eater go unnoticed by hungry predators. It also had a heavily pigmented face and hind legs that were striped on the inside and reticulated and spotted on the outside. The color pattern suggested Psittacosaurus lived in a forest environment with diffuse light from a dense canopy of trees. Molecular paleobiologist Jakob Vinther of the University of Bristol in Britain explains "Countershading is a pattern that serves to conceal shadows on an animal, making it appear more flat optically and less conspicuous." [2]

[1] Pim, Keiron. (2013). THE BUMPER BOOK OF DINOSAURS. Square Peg.
[2] Dunham, Will. (Sep 2016). Scientists decipher color of 'super cute' bristly dinosaur. Reuters.

Model based on: Psittacosaurus from The Isle (2015)
Spore Abilities: Level 3 Sprint, Level 1 Bite, Level 1 Charge, Level 3 Sing, Level 3 Dance, Level 3 Charm

Note: This SPORE model has Creepy & Cute parts. SPORE players downloading this model is required to have the C&C expansion pack in order to access to the model.

Description
Scientific Name: Psittacosaurus mongoliensis
Pronunciation: sit-ah-co-sore-us
Meaning in Latin: ‬Parrot lizard
Code Name: Taco
Discovered by: Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1923
Classification: Animalia, Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia

Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 126 to 101 million years ago
Location: ‬Asia, China, Mongolia and Russia. Possibly also Thailand.
Length: 1.5 to 2 meters (5 to 6.5 feet) long
Weight: 15 to 20 kilogrammes (33 to 44 lbs)
Diet: Herbivore

A parrot-beaked primitive ceratopsian, Psittacosaurus was one of the Cretaceous period's greatest success stories: the genus survived around 25 millionyears and comprised more known species than any other non-avian dinosaur. While most left only a single species to the fossil record, Psittacosaurus has 11 varieties found in deposits across China, Mongolia and Russia. In 1923 Henry Fairfield Osborn discovered the first in Mongolia and the subsequent discovery of more than 400 specimens marks Psittacosaurus out as one of the best-understood dinosaurs. But in the 1990s a fossil illegally exported from China to Germany, and consequently unattributed as yet to any particular species, added new interest to this seemingly familiar herbivore. An exquisite skeleton from the famous Liaoning province shows distinct traces of bristles, comparable to Tianyulong but in this case pluming up from its tail. There are around 100 in all, the longest up to 16 centimeters (6 inch). The fact that they protrude upwards in a single slender row removes the possibility that they served as insulation. A German team led by paleontologist Gerald Mayr published the first close study in 2001 and noted that if they were coloured they may have been used for signalling, like modern birds' ornamental feathers. This aside, Psittacosaurus was remarkable for its plain appearance when compared with huge ceratopsians of the Late Cretaceous. Its head was tortoise-like, almost cubic in some especially blunt-snouted species, and the nearest thing it had to Triceratops' spikes and frills were a pair of stubby spikes jutting from the back of its jaws. It also differed from its later relatives by being bipedal, research in 2007 showed that its forelimbs could not even touch the ground. Its predators were many but most interestingly included the mammal Repenomamus. [1]

An unspecified species name also has a remarkable discovery made by scientists; they were able to decipher the colour pattern of the dinosaur through the use of melanosomes, fossilised organelles that synthesize and store the pigment melanin in vertebrate animals and are present in hair, feathers and skin. It also was the first time researchers were able to hypothesize the environment a dinosaur inhabited based on its coloration. Psittacosaurus was mainly brown but with a paler underside of the tail and belly, a pattern called countershading that may have helped the small bipedal plant-eater go unnoticed by hungry predators. It also had a heavily pigmented face and hind legs that were striped on the inside and reticulated and spotted on the outside. The color pattern suggested Psittacosaurus lived in a forest environment with diffuse light from a dense canopy of trees. Molecular paleobiologist Jakob Vinther of the University of Bristol in Britain explains "Countershading is a pattern that serves to conceal shadows on an animal, making it appear more flat optically and less conspicuous." [2]

[1] Pim, Keiron. (2013). THE BUMPER BOOK OF DINOSAURS. Square Peg.
[2] Dunham, Will. (Sep 2016). Scientists decipher color of 'super cute' bristly dinosaur. Reuters.

Model based on: Psittacosaurus from The Isle (2015)
Spore Abilities: Level 3 Sprint, Level 1 Bite, Level 1 Charge, Level 3 Sing, Level 3 Dance, Level 3 Charm

Note: This SPORE model has Creepy & Cute parts. SPORE players downloading this model is required to have the C&C expansion pack in order to access to the model.