Eosinopteryx

Say it like this: “EE-oh-si-NOP-ter-ix”

Eosinopteryx brevipenna

Eosinopteryx ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Eosinopteryx

When: Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian) · roughly 165.3 to 149.2 million years ago
Named in: 2013 · Godefroit, P.; Demuynck, H.; Dyke, G.; Hu, D.; Escuillié, F.; Claeys, P.
Hip height: 0.1 m · 0 ft
Length: 0.3 m · 1 ft
Weight: 0 kg · 0 lb
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 Eosinopteryx. The name means “dawn Chinese feather.”

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 Eosinopteryx at a length near 0.3 m, hips about 0.1 m high, and a body mass around 0 kg.

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

Aurornis

Aurornis xui

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