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Beautifully Camouflaged Dinosaur

Published: 16th Sep 2016

An exquisitely preserved fossil of the dinosaur Psittacosaurus reveals the most elaborate dinosaur ‘paint job’ ever seen. This includes dark and light zones similar to those seen in todays antelope, fish and other animals which confuse predators. Psittacosaurus had a brown back and a lighter belly.

These dark and light zones are known as countershading and this is the first dinosaur to exhibit such markings. This worked well as camouflage against predatory dinosaurs particularly in a forest environment.

This Psittacosaurus is also remarkable for another reason. The fossil has fossilised dinosaur poo sticking out of its bottom. Did the dinosaur die whilst pooing or was it something that happened after death?

Psittacosaurus lived 120 million years ago during the Cretaceous period in what is now China. It means ‘parrot lizard and this dog sized dinosaur had a beaked jaw and short spikes on its cheeks.