Yabeinosaurus is an extinct genus of lizard from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group of northeastern China.
The type species Yabeinosaurus tenuis is known from many well-preserved skeletons belonging to both juvenile and adult individuals.
For about 60 years Yabeinosaurus was known only from juvenile specimens, leading scientists to believe that it was a small lizard with weakly developed bones.
[3] long were first described in 2005, showing that Yabeinosaurus was a relatively large lizard when fully grown.
Recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that Yabeinosaurus is not closely related to geckos but rather a very basal ("primitive") lizard close to the split between Iguania and Scleroglossa, one of the earliest divergences in the evolutionary history of lizards.