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Dino Codex
PsittacosaurusAI image
AI imageCreated with GPT Image 2 by OpenAI on Oct 28, 2026

Match with prompt

100% (6/6 items)

See the checklist, prompt and sources
  • ✓Short deep skull, parrot-like beak, cheek horns, no frill
  • ✓Bipedal, small, about 1.5–2 m long, short arms
  • ✓Row of long bristles along the top of the tail
  • ✓Whole animal visible in side view
  • ✓Scene matches the period and the fossil site
  • ✓No text, people or modern objects

Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (checked item by item from the image) on Oct 28, 2026. The score is the share of checklist items the image gets right; it is not an expert scientific review.

Prompt used to create the image

Scientifically accurate paleoart of Psittacosaurus, a herbivore Psittacosauridae dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (about 125–113 million years ago). A short, deep skull with a parrot-like beak and short horn-like cheek bones sticking out sideways, NO neck frill. Reference: Psittacosaurus is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 125 and 105 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur genus. Up to 13 species are known, from across China, Mongolia, Russia, and Thailand. Anatomy: a small two-legged dinosaur about 1.5–2 meters long, short arms; a row of long bristle-like quills along the top of the tail. Full body in side view, whole animal visible, standing in an Early Cretaceous floodplain like the Khok Kruat Formation of northeastern Thailand, warm and semi-arid with conifers, cycads, ferns and rare early flowering plants, no grass. Natural history museum illustration style, realistic textures and natural daylight, muted natural colors. No text, no labels, no humans, no modern objects.

Facts in the prompt come from Wikipedia (en) and Paleobiology Database

Psittacosaurus

Name meaning: From Greek, meaning "parrot lizard", for its hooked parrot-like beak.

HerbivoreFound in Thailand

📏 About 2 m long and around 20 kg.

📐 Compare its size with other dinosaurs →

Find it in a game

Psittacosaurus was an early relative of the horned dinosaurs from Early Cretaceous Asia. It walked on two legs and had a strong beak and bony flanges on its cheeks. It is one of the dinosaurs with the most fossils, and dozens of species have been named.

Fun facts

  • One species was named from fossils found in Chaiyaphum, Thailand: Psittacosaurus sattayaraki, although some scientists still debate whether it is really a separate species.
  • One fossil from China preserved its skin so well that we know it had a tuft of long bristles on its tail, and a dark back with a lighter belly for camouflage.

Who lived alongside it

Dinosaurs found in the same rock formation as Psittacosaurus (Yixian), so they lived in the same region at roughly the same time.

Formation data from the Paleobiology Database, counting only each genus's main formations. One formation can span hundreds of thousands to millions of years, so this doesn't mean any two of them ever met.

Scientific details

Classification
Ornithischian (bird-hipped)
Family
Unknown
When it lived
100.5–137.05 million years ago
Geologic stages
Valanginian – Albian
Named by
Osborn, 1923
Fossil occurrences
70 sites

Countries with fossils

  • China
  • Mongolia
  • Russia
  • Thailand

Data from Paleobiology Database and Wikidata