Very HardSinosauropteryx
Sinosauropteryx prima
SY-no-sore-OP-ter-iks· “Chinese lizard wing”
🦕 Dinosaur🕰️ Cretaceous🥩 carnivore🦴 Compsognathidae
1.1 m
Length
0.4 m
Height
1 kg
Weight
The first dinosaur found with clear evidence of feathers — a small compsognathid from China's Jehol Biota covered in simple downy filaments. Preserved pigments even reveal it had a ginger-and-white banded tail.
When
Early Cretaceous, ~125 million years ago
Found in
China
Discovered
Ji Qi & Ji Shu-An, 1996
Did you know?
- The first dinosaur discovered with unmistakable feather traces.
- Fossilised pigments show it had a ginger-and-white striped tail.
- One of the smallest dinosaurs known, about the size of a turkey.
Artwork: Conty, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.