Look up · dinosaur 150 of 1,425
sharp-clawed runner
Aurornis
Aurornis xui
Aurornis ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian) · roughly 165.3 to 149.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 2013 · Godefroit, P.; Cau, A.; Hu, D. Y.; Escuillié, F.; Wu, W.; Dyke, G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 0.5 m · 2 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- China · Tiaojishan
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Anchiornithidae
The story in short
In 2013, P. Godefroit and colleagues published the name Aurornis. The name means “dawn bird.”
It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian), roughly 165.3 to 149.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Tiaojishan Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Aurornis at a length near 0.5 m.
On the family tree it sits in Anchiornithidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Anchiornis
Anchiornis huxleyi
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian) · roughly 165.3 to 149.2 million years ago
Caihong
Caihong juji
Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) · roughly 161.5 to 154.8 million years ago
Eosinopteryx
Eosinopteryx brevipenna
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian) · roughly 165.3 to 149.2 million years ago