Epaxial tendons play an important role in the study of the musculoskeletal system and locomotory style of dinosaurs. Although the ossified epaxial tendon lattice is fairly well known in Iguanodontoidea, only recently has knowledge of this complex been extended to ceratopsians. This study concerns the gross morphology and microstructure of the tendon lattice in Psittacosaurus, a basal ceratopsian. As in the neoceratopsian Chasmosaurus, the ossified tendons of Psittacosaurus form a three -layered, lattice-like structure. The microstructure of the tendons in large psittacosaur individuals retains an early stage of ossification, as in juvenile birds and nestling hadrosaurs, suggesting a slow developmental rate of ossification of the tendons in psittacosaur ontogeny. Comparative study indicates that a lattice-like arrangement of three-layered epaxial tendons is widely distributed in Cerapoda. This pattern also extends to Ankylosauria, implying a similar pattern of the epaxial muscles through the ornithischian clade. In addition, comparison with crocodiles implies that the different morphology of ossified tendons in dinosaurs may be associated with adaptive aspects of their paleobiology, not simply a side effect of skeletal ossification. In contrast to the short tendons in quadrupedal Chasmosaurus and Protoceratops, the elongated tendons in Psittacosaurus may be related to the bipedal locomotion characteristic of this taxon.
记述产于辽宁省朝阳市早白垩世九佛堂组的一新反鸟化石。依据它所具有的"Y"形的叉骨;乌喙骨较宽且末端凹陷;胸骨侧突细长,并在远端扩大,将其归入反鸟亚纲。此外,依据新材料所特有的头骨结构,如吻长、粗壮;有具钩状的牙齿;额骨大而低等不同于其它反鸟亚纲鸟类的特点,建立新属新种:杨氏弯齿鸟Camptodontus yangi gen.et sp.nov.。新种隶属于长翼鸟科,与长翼鸟的某些特征相似。它的发现不但给反鸟类群增加了一重要新成员,同时也说明早期鸟类分化辐射的复杂性。
