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EXHIBIT 156

Jinzhousaurus

Jinzhousaurus yangi

Jinzhousaurus was a crestless plant-eating ornithopod with a distinctive skull and unusually short, stout hand bones. [2] [3]

Evidence profile

TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST

Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.

01 / FOSSIL VIEW

The evidence in the bones

Slab display identified as Jinzhousaurus yangi at the Hong Kong Science Museum.

Hong Kong Science Museum display identified as J. yangi. The source does not establish its collection number or original-versus-replica status. The displayed tail and feet are incomplete; compression affects the skeleton. Fossil colors do not establish living colors or soft tissues. [3]

Jinzhousaurus yangi.JPG · I, Laikayiu. CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized Commons preview and converted to WebP; no anatomy edits.

The photograph or figure shows the credited fossil material; displayed mounts and labels can include interpretation.

02 / MOVIE-STYLE INTERPRETATION

A cinematic imagination

Illustrative reconstruction of Jinzhousaurus; colors, soft tissues and restored details remain interpretive.

Original cinematic interpretation of the crestless head and short stout hands. The lateral thumb spike and hoof-like middle fingers reflect described anatomy; whole-body posture, colors, soft tissues and scenery remain reconstruction choices. Lighting, coloration and scenery are artistic choices. This image does not document a fossil locality or behavior.

Original artwork · artistic interpretation.

Scientific view: source-informed reconstruction, credited paleoart or specimen-based imagery. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Reconstructions involve uncertainty.

PERIODEarly Cretaceous[2]
DIETHerbivoreEvidence and uncertainty in the dossier
TOTAL LENGTH5–5.5 mEstimate scope matters
FOSSILS FOUNDLiaoning, China[2]
CompareRead the dossierView the sources

MEET THE ANIMAL

Meet Jinzhousaurus

Jinzhousaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur from Early Cretaceous China. Its cheek teeth support a vegetation-based diet, although particular foods are not established in the reviewed evidence. The named species is Jinzhousaurus yangi. It is one of the named dinosaurs that help researchers investigate the early history of the wider duck-billed dinosaur group. [D4] [D1]

The original description recognized a mixture of skull and tooth features, combining more ancestral traits with others resembling those of hadrosaurs. That mixture helped identify a distinct dinosaur. It does not turn Jinzhousaurus into a confirmed direct ancestor of later species. Evolutionary comparisons describe relationships among branches, rather than proving that a particular fossil animal founded a later family. [D1]

Its skeleton came from Liaoning’s Yixian Formation, part of the Jehol record. Large dinosaurs are scarce in the deposits. Researchers have considered both ecological rarity and preservation bias, since the number of fossils found need not match the number of animals originally alive. [D2]

A triangular thumb spike distinguished its stout hand. Some other fingertips remain incomplete in the skeleton. [D3]

PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER

A life in profile.

The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.

Skull studies identify a distinctive mixture of early hadrosauroid features. Its rare large skeleton also highlights preservation limits in the Jehol record. [D2]

Profile scope: J. yangi, articulated but compressed holotype IVPP V12691, with missing feet and incomplete tail. [D3]

Time
Early Cretaceous
Fossil locations in this exhibit
Liaoning, China
How to read the evidence

Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.

A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.

Length

Inferred

About 5-5.5 m; holotype reconstruction

IVPP V12691 includes restored missing tail. Closed visible vertebral sutures suggest skeletal maturity; the interval is an individual estimate, not a species range. [D3]

Body mass

Inferred

About 0.5-1 t; comparative estimate

The primary paper compares its mature-inferred type with similarly sized iguanodontians. This is a broad reconstruction estimate, not a direct individual mass calculation. [D3]

Diet

Source supported

Plant eater

Museum classification and its cheek teeth support herbivory. Specific foods and seasonal preferences are not established here. [D4]

Habitat

Source supported

Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation

The holotype comes from Baicaigou, western Liaoning, in the Dakangpu Member/Dawangzhangzi-equivalent beds associated with the Jehol fauna. [D2]

Locomotion

Inferred

Possible facultative quadruped

Humerus length is about 67% of femur length; the original limb-proportion comparison suggests four-limb support as well as potential bipedality. [D3]

Distinctive anatomy

Source supported

Short stout hands with a thumb spike

The type preserves a triangular digit-I ungual and hoof-like middle unguals; distal details of other fingers remain incomplete. [D3]

Reproduction & life together

Reproduction and nesting

Not established

Not established here

The proposed skeletal maturity rests on vertebral sutures, without histology. It does not establish nesting, parental care or reproductive age. [D3]

Courtship and mating

Not established

Not established here

The reviewed single-type skull material does not establish sexual dimorphism, mate choice or a courtship ritual. [D2]

Social behavior

Not established

Not established here

Jehol faunal association and one articulated skeleton do not establish a Jinzhousaurus herd or family group. [D2]

Dossier research & sources

Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.

  1. A new iguanodontid (Jinzhousaurus yangi gen. et sp. nov.) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, ChinaChinese Science Bulletin; Wang and Xu (2001) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original publisher abstract inspected; name, type diagnosis and combination of cranial/dental features. Full four-page paper unavailable; measurements drawn instead from inspected later redescription. · Inspected: abstract
  2. Cranial anatomy of the iguanodontoid ornithopod Jinzhousaurus yangi from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of ChinaActa Palaeontologica Polonica; Barrett, Butler, Wang and Xu (2009) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full paper inspected: IVPP V12691 skull, diagnosis, Baicaigou locality, Dakangpu/Dawangzhangzi Yixian beds, Early Cretaceous. Jehol large-bodied dinosaur scarcity has ecological and preservation explanations, neither settled. · Inspected: page
  3. The postcranial skeleton of the iguanodontian ornithopod Jinzhousaurus yangi from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, ChinaEarth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Wang, Pan, Butler and Barrett (online2011; volume101,2010) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full author-uploaded paper inspected. 5-5.5 m total includes comparative tail restoration; 0.5-1 t comparative estimate; neurocentral closure suggests maturity, no histology; stout manus/thumb spike and inferred facultative quadrupedality. · Inspected: page
  4. JinzhousaurusNatural History Museum, London · Accessed 2026-10-02Museum indexed profile inspected: herbivory, China, Early Cretaceous and Wang/Xu 2001 naming; precise historical age interval not used. · Inspected: excerpt

THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS

Meet Jinzhousaurus

The original description recognized a mixture of more ancestral and hadrosaur-like skull features. Later work refined that diagnosis; the animal is not demonstrated to be the direct ancestor of later duck-billed dinosaurs. [1]

Large-bodied dinosaurs are scarce in the sampled Jehol record. The skull redescription considered both genuine ecological scarcity and preservation bias, illustrating why fossil abundance cannot simply be read as living population size. [2]

A note on scale and time

The dossier identifies the scope of each reference estimate. A mount, an individual fossil and a species-wide adult range are different measurements. Comparison metrics remain unavailable where adult scope has not been established. Unknown does not mean zero.

Sources & editorial notes

Sources support the stated claims and scopes. Refer to the evidence notes for uncertainty.

  1. A new iguanodontid (Jinzhousaurus yangi gen. et sp. nov.) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, ChinaChinese Science Bulletin; Wang and Xu (2001) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original publisher abstract inspected; name, type diagnosis and combination of cranial/dental features. Full four-page paper unavailable; measurements drawn instead from inspected later redescription. · Inspected: abstract
  2. Cranial anatomy of the iguanodontoid ornithopod Jinzhousaurus yangi from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of ChinaActa Palaeontologica Polonica; Barrett, Butler, Wang and Xu (2009) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full paper inspected: IVPP V12691 skull, diagnosis, Baicaigou locality, Dakangpu/Dawangzhangzi Yixian beds, Early Cretaceous. Jehol large-bodied dinosaur scarcity has ecological and preservation explanations, neither settled. · Inspected: page
  3. The postcranial skeleton of the iguanodontian ornithopod Jinzhousaurus yangi from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, ChinaEarth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Wang, Pan, Butler and Barrett (online2011; volume101,2010) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full author-uploaded paper inspected. 5-5.5 m total includes comparative tail restoration; 0.5-1 t comparative estimate; neurocentral closure suggests maturity, no histology; stout manus/thumb spike and inferred facultative quadrupedality. · Inspected: page
  4. JinzhousaurusNatural History Museum, London · Accessed 2026-10-02Museum indexed profile inspected: herbivory, China, Early Cretaceous and Wang/Xu 2001 naming; precise historical age interval not used. · Inspected: excerpt

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