Liaoningosaurus

Liaoningosaurus was a tiny, enigmatic armoured dinosaur found in the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Measuring barely thirty to fifty centimetres in length, the known specimens represent juveniles, though some researchers suspect adults may not have been substantially larger. In addition to conventional dorsal armour, Liaoningosaurus possessed a unique ventral bony shield covering its belly. Most remarkably, some articulated fossils contain the skeletal remains of small freshwater fish inside their gut cavities. This evidence led palaeontologists to propose that Liaoningosaurus may have had a semiaquatic lifestyle, feeding on fish or scavenging aquatic life in lakes, which would make it unprecedented among herbivorous thyreophorans. However, whether it was an active fish-hunter or an omnivore remains a subject of ongoing scientific study.

Fossil specimens have been found with fish skeletons preserved in their stomach regions.

Where and when

Liaoningosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 125 to 122 million years ago (Aptian age). Its remains come from China, in the Yixian Formation.

The numbers

Length 0.4 m (estimates run from 0.3 to 0.5 m). Mass about 0.87 kg. Hip height about 0.15 m. That is 0.2 human-lengths, or 0.04 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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