Dinosaur genus

Heyuannia

Lü 2003

Heyuannia is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 83.6–66 million years old, in China and Mongolia.

Confidence labels

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Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026

83.6–66 Ma

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by: Lü 2003
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: J. Lü (2003). A new oviraptorosaurid (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of southern China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(4): 871–875. Read it
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Lü 2003).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
Type species: Heyuannia huangi
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Lived: Campanian to Maastrichtian, 83.6–66 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation83.6–66 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
low
low: Omnisaura's calculation from only 2 dated record(s).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Fossils found in: China
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Mongolia
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Rock formations: Baruungoyot
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Dongyuan
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
Family: Oviraptoridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Parent group: Heyuanninae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Species named in its records: Heyuannia huangi
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
Older or other names: Ajancingenia (a junior synonym)
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (names it treats as this genus).
Diet: omnivore (inferred for its group)
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Oviraptorosauria, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
Way of life: ground dwelling (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Oviraptorosauria; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
Known from: Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).

Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

Order: no source we use gives it yet.
Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
Resting on one source: 6 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); family (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); diet (PBDB).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

Did Heyuannia meet ?

Same time, different places. Their fossils overlap in age, 83.6 to 66 million years ago, but no rock formation holds both.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Heyuannia by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Same rocks, same time 22

Genera found in the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.

Bagaceratops Dendroolithus Faveoloolithus Protoceratops Protoceratopsidovum Coralloidoolithus Paraspheroolithus Saichania Conchoraptor Elongatoolithus Macroolithus Nemegtomaia Pinacosaurus Spheroolithus Velociraptor Avimimusand 6 more

Same family: Oviraptoridae 9

Other genera in Oviraptoridae with a full profile.

Banji Citipati Conchoraptor Corythoraptor Khaan Nemegtomaia Oksoko Oviraptor Yulong

Named by Lü 3

Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.

Corythoraptor Nemegtomaia Yulong

Found in China 33

Other genera found in China, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.

Elongatoolithus Macroolithus Shixingoolithus Nanhsiungoolithus Dendroolithus Tarbosaurus Prismatoolithus Spheroolithus Yulong Alioramus Amurosaurus Asiatyrannus Bactrosaurus Banji Charonosaurus Corythoraptorand 17 more

Where its fossils were found

2 fossil sites, with present-day and ancient positions

Open the map at this time

Cite this page

Omnisaura (2026). Heyuannia. Future Sailors. https://www.omnisaura.com/genera/heyuannia. Data as of 11 October 2026.

What's changed

12 Oct 2026
Added to Omnisaura.

Every change to Omnisaura

Use this data

Download this genus as JSON With every source and licence attached. Also recorded in: Paleobiology Database · Wikipedia (English) · GBIF · Wikidata Spotted a problem? Tell us

Pictures

1 openly licensed picture of Heyuannia on Wikimedia Commons and museum sites, each with its own author and licence.

Holotype block of Heyuannia huangi.png
Rui Qiu1, Yanli Du2, Zhiqing Huang2, Xufeng Zhu1, Xiaoli Yang2, Qiang Wang3, Xiaolin Wang, CC BY 4.0

Credits

Where this page comes from

Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines

Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.