Yuxisaurus
"Yuxi lizard"
- Lived
- 193 to 184 million years ago, Early Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Yao et al. 2022
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
190 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers and lakes shaped the land recorded in the Fengjiahe Formation of China. Its dinosaur neighbors included Yunnanosaurus, Yimenosaurus and Irisosaurus.
Field notes
About Yuxisaurus
What it was like
Yuxisaurus was an early armored dinosaur, a plant eater covered with many bony plates and spikes. It is known from a partial skeleton and lots of armor. It belongs to the early branch that led to the stegosaurs and ankylosaurs.
Its world
It lived about 193 to 184 million years ago, in the Early Jurassic, in what is now southern China. Its bones come from the Fengjiahe Formation, where it lived alongside the early sauropod relative Yunnanosaurus.
How it was found
Yao and colleagues named it in 2022 from one find. It was the first early armored dinosaur of its kind described from Asia.
Field gallery
More views of Yuxisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Yuxisaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Yuxisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton includes parts of the skull, jaws, neck, back, shoulder and limbs.
- Its arm and thigh bones are more robust than those of Scelidosaurus.
- Many armor bones include pointed spines, plates and fused groups of spikes.
Borrowed from relatives
- Scelidosaurus helps fill in the missing tail and feet.
- The positions of fused armor pieces are inferred from the neck and shoulder armor of other armored dinosaurs, including Scelidosaurus.
Still unknown
- The exact arrangement of its plates and spikes.
- Whether it always walked on all fours.
- Its color.
Discovery timeline
- 2020Close relativeNorman
- 2022Named itYao et al.
- 2023Family treeRaven et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Yuxisaurus
Close relative
Reconstructed the armor and biology of Scelidosaurus, an important comparison for restoring the missing parts of Yuxisaurus.
Scelidosaurus harrisonii(Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England: biology and phylogenetic relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191: 1-86
Read the paper : Scelidosaurus harrisonii(Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England: biology and phylogenetic relationships (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a stocky early armored dinosaur with many plates and spikes, confirming that these dinosaurs had spread to Asia early in their history.
A new early branching armored dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China. eLife 11
Read the paper : A new early branching armored dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Reviewed the armored dinosaur family tree and recognized Yuxisaurus as an early branch resembling Scelidosaurus.
The phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the armoured dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 21
Read the paper : The phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the armoured dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Thyreophoroidea
Sources: Wikidata