Dinosaurs & Prehistory - Dinosaurs - Psittacosaurus - Ceratopsians - Dinosaur anatomy - Cretaceous
On which part of the body did Psittacosaurus have conspicuous long bristles?
Correct!
Psittacosaurus was an early representative of the ceratopsians and therefore a distant relative of dinosaurs such as Triceratops. It lived in Asia during the early Cretaceous period and grew to about 2 meters long. Its name means “parrot lizard” and refers to its powerful, parrot-like beak. Particularly unusual is an excellently preserved fossil in which not only large parts of the scaly skin have been preserved, but also long bristle-like skin structures along the top of the tail. These structures were apparently concentrated in the caudal region. In the specialist literature they are described as bristle-like integumentary structures. It is much more difficult to answer whether they correspond directly to the feathers of theropods - which is why Quizpion deliberately refers to them as "bristles" and not simply as "feathers". The exceptional state of preservation of Psittacosaurus has even made it possible to study various skin types and other soft tissue structures in detail. This makes the animal one of the dinosaurs where we know a lot about its actual external appearance.
An exceptionally preserved Psittacosaurus fossil preserves long bristle-like structures along the top of the tail.
