Anything Psittacosaurus

[Gryphoceratops]

I'm guessing those are from excavation and he's basing the reconstruction off of tianyulong.  Don't get me wrong, it could have very likely have had quills being related to tianyulong and all just they weren't in this particular specimen or at least that's what Dr. Thomas Holtz announced yesterday about the find.  Are quills talked about specifically in the paper itself?  I haven't gotten a chance to read it myself yet.

[wings]

I would assume Sereno had Some reason for reconstructing it that way? .Sereno himself stated it was ...."part vampire and part porcupine" which suggests he had solid evidence to suggest that reconstruction. Or is he just speculating based on Tianyulong? Here is the actual fossil, from Sereno's paper...notice the lines radiating from the fossil....The lighter ones appear to be from the fossil prepping, but what about those really dark deep ones towards the upper part of the picture? Quills or just patterning in the matrix?

I just skimmed through the paper, and all we have of Pegomastax is a partial skull, left and right dentaries and left predentary. As for the radiating lines, these are just lines created from preparation (most likely from the air scribe). Just double click on figure 82 from the online paper and you will see those scratching marks. If you scroll down to figure 101, the caption actually said these bristles are based on Tianyulong which is the only published integument for the heterodontosaurid group. So it is just a likely assumption rather than based on fossil found of this particular animal.

[Gryphoceratops]

I would assume Sereno had Some reason for reconstructing it that way? .Sereno himself stated it was ...."part vampire and part porcupine" which suggests he had solid evidence to suggest that reconstruction. Or is he just speculating based on Tianyulong? Here is the actual fossil, from Sereno's paper...notice the lines radiating from the fossil....The lighter ones appear to be from the fossil prepping, but what about those really dark deep ones towards the upper part of the picture? Quills or just patterning in the matrix?

I just skimmed through the paper, and all we have of Pegomastax is a partial skull, left and right dentaries and left predentary. As for the radiating lines, these are just lines created from preparation (most likely from the air scribe). Just double click on figure 82 from the online paper and you will see those scratching marks. If you scroll down to figure 101, the caption actually said these bristles are based on Tianyulong which is the only published integument for the heterodontosaurid group. So it is just a likely assumption rather than based on fossil found of this particular animal.

Ah thank you. 

[wings]

Had forgotten to say thanks for sharing the paper Wings, you are always so helpful. I read them all and save them once I figure out how to download them as well so thanks again .

@amargasaurus cazaui
just in case you could not work out how to download it, here is the link (http://www.pensoft.net/J_FILES/1/articles/2840/2840-G-4-layout.pdf) of the paper (the smaller 25M version).

[Balaur]

I was just thinking about the different species of Psittacosaurus, one of my top 5 favourite herbivorous dinosaurs,  and decided to share a photo of my favourite Psittacosaurus species. You may have seen this one. Tell me what you think. 



Oh, and it's P. sibiricus. Enjoy! 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Have to love the head gear for that little guy. The jugals on mine just out just like it is drawn there, too.Mine is not the same species but I think this one has perhaps the most interesting skull of the species of known Psittacosaurus, thanks for sharing him. He will be taken good care of over here.

[Balaur]

No problem! I love sharing my favourite dinosaurs in any way I can. 

[tyrantqueen]

There's a bizarre looking chinasaur Psittacosaurus in this lot. A bit on the cartoony side, but the title of the thread is "anything Psittacosaurus", is it not?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-large-heavy-plastic-dinosaurs-/271085633826?pt=UK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN&hash=item3f1df68122

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Oh that is hysterical. I would have loved to bid on it too, but its not offered on the American Ebay site at all. Ugh

[amargasaurus cazaui]

That psittacosaurus is funny, his hands are even sculpted properly !!!. If anyone in the UK would you like to work something out, I would love to get my hands on that psittacosaurus, thanks. This Psittacosaurus is the largest toy I have seen of this species. He also has neutral hands !! Despite some paint wear and a small tip missing from a claw, he is a wonderful addition to my collection. It also bears mentioning that tyrant queen was the one who located it and led me to it, so a thanks is in order, and given.

  SO here the guy is, fresh from the UK. Tyrantqueen originally spotted this fellow for sale in a lot on Ebay, open only to UK bidders. I had put out a call for help here landing the lot, but was able to persuade the seller to accept my bid and sell to me. I forfeited the rest of the lot, due to shipping considerations and had the Psittacosaurus sent. He arrived with some paint wear and one damaged claw, but otherwise none the worse for his ordeal. What is truly amazing is his size, and he seems to be one of the few psittacosaur toys with neutral hands. I named him Rocky, and as you can see he is rather larger.







Here, "Rocky" and "Smudge" discuss the merits of co-habitatation. Smudge does not seem impressed !

[tyrantqueen]

That Psittacosaurus has popped up again  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toy-Dinosaurs-/251190748084?pt=UK_Collectables_AnimalCollectables_SM&hash=item3a7c22a3b4

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I thought I would share something Martin Garratt did for me. I sent him a picture of a koreaceratops I liked, and asked if he could recreate the patterns and colors on a psittacosaurus. I then sent him another psittacosaurus and asked him to choose how to repaint it.
Then I asked him to base the two together.....I was amazed at the results.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

While you hear alot about the famous Psittacosaurus fossil with quills (SMF R 4970) you do not get to hear very much about another specimen that has some very amazing preservation and information to offer.
(MV 53)
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1636/775.full

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Found this picture while scouring the net today. While not a Psittacosaurus, it is a distant relative, the Triceratops. The picture is of a cast of the skin impression from Triceratops Lane, the specimen that has given rise to speculation the dinosaur had quills. The two large scales you see with raised centers are the cause of the debate....the speculation is they served as attachment points for elongated quills. Thoughts? I can see the logic in the assumption myself..it looks quite plausible.

[tyrantqueen]

Very interesting. I personally like the idea that they were spiky barbs, maybe covered in keratin, which could have served as part of the animal's natural defenses. See here:

[Simon]

That makes much more sense to me than believing that it had long quills like a porcupine perhaps (?)  An animal that size?  Don't think so.  Spikes OTOH appeared so many times in so many species because of their defensive advantages. 

So why not in ceratopsians?  The one thing that strikes me about that Trike skin print is how large the back scales are - I am sure they were bone-toughened.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Very interesting. I personally like the idea that they were spiky barbs, maybe covered in keratin, which could have served as part of the animal's natural defenses. See here:

Either hypothesis seems quite possible at this point......I believe the main evidence given for them to be bases for extended quills was the psittacosaurs specimen found with quills as well as Tianyulong, which were both clearly quilled. I like how the spiky barbs look in your example as well....quite possible.

[wings]

Nothing really new but just more photos.

http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/the-filamented-psittacosaurus/

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Nothing really new but just more photos.

http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/the-filamented-psittacosaurus/

Awesome Wings, I did have any pictures quite that clear or easy to study of the dinosaur before.Some of those are quite spectacular. I am not going to be surprised if someone guesses how to interpret the dinosaur's coloration yet from this fossil, as well.

[wings]

Nothing really new but just more photos.

http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/the-filamented-psittacosaurus/

Awesome Wings, I did have any pictures quite that clear or easy to study of the dinosaur before.Some of those are quite spectacular. I am not going to be surprised if someone guesses how to interpret the dinosaur's coloration yet from this fossil, as well.

Hone's interpretation of these filament is also interesting "...Sprouting up off the base of the tail and extending most of the way along its (incomplete) length... certainly appear to have stopped appearing well short of the end of the tail, so their full extent does appear to have been preserved.