Chaoyangsauridae

Chaoyangsaurids
Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 148 Ma
Chaoyangsaurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
Clade: Marginocephalia
Suborder: Ceratopsia
Family: Chaoyangsauridae
Zhao, Cheng, & Xu, 1999
Type species
Chaoyangsaurus youngi
Zhao, Cheng, & Xu, 1999

Chaoyangsauridae is a family of dinosaurs. They are the earliest known marginocephalian dinosaurs to appear on the planet, about 148 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic period. Members of this group had sharp beaks for snipping off leaves to eat, and a very small frill. There are disagreements that the chaoyangsaurids were part of the pachycephalosaurian group, ceratopsian group, or a different ancestral group.

Two dinosaur genera, Chaoyangsaurus and Xuanhuaceratops, are included in Chaoyangsauridae. Both animals are more primitive (or basal) than Psittacosaurus, an early ceratopsian.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/28/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.