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sharp-clawed runner
Sinosauropteryx
Say it like this: “SIEN-o-saw-ROP-te-riks”
Sinosauropteryx prima
Sinosauropteryx ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1996 · Ji, Q.; Ji, S.
- Hip height
- 0.2 m · 1 ft
- Length
- 1.1 m · 4 ft
- Weight
- 1 kg · 2 lb
- Found in
- China · Yixian
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Compsognathidae
The story in short
The genus Sinosauropteryx dates to 1996, the year Q. Ji and S. Ji described it. The name means “chinese reptilian wing.”
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Yixian Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Sinosauropteryx at a length near 1.1 m, hips about 0.2 m high, and a body mass around 1 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Compsognathidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aristosuchus
Aristosuchus pusillus
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Beipiaognathus
Beipiaognathus jii
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Compsognathus
Compsognathus longipes
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago