Psittacosaurus (Sit-tac-oh-sore-us), the “parrot lizard” named for its large, strong beak, is a well-known genus of early ceratopsian dinosaur, related to animals like Protoceratops and Triceratops. Hundreds of fossils, representing a wide age range, have been found spanning Early Cretaceous fossil deposits in East Asia, most famously China and Russia. The appearance of the animal in front of you is largely based on a fossil from the Yixian (Ee-syan) Formation of China, which preserves bristle-like (non-feathery) structures on the tail, the pigments in the skin, and even a belly button! This specimen, referred to as SMF R 4970, is used to inform many of the modern reconstructions of Psittacosaurus. The massive volume of individual Psittacosaurus known from the fossil record means many specimens can tell us about the relationships this dinosaur had with other species and its own kind. For example, finds of a mixed-age group of Psittacosaurus suggest they formed social groups after leaving the nest, but reasons behind this are unclear. Furthermore, the discovery of a juvenile Psittacosaurus in the stomach of the mammal Repenomamus suggests other dinosaurs weren’t the only predators this small biped had to worry about. Another specimen, preserving a Repenomamus and adult Psittacosaurus locked in combat, suggest adults wouldn’t go down without a fight. As a common animal in the Yixian Formation, Psittacosaurus shared its subtropical-temperate environment with Confuciusornis, Yutyrannus, Repenomamus, and the plant Ephedra, among many others.