Dinosaurs A to Z
Compsognathidae

Sinocalliopteryx

"Chinese beautiful feather"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Sinocalliopteryx 2.4 m (7.8 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Sinocalliopteryx
Length
2.4 m (7.8 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (125.46 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Compsognathidae
Sinocalliopteryx reconstruction by Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com)
Reconstruction · Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) (CC-BY)

Sinocalliopteryx (meaning ‘Chinese beautiful feather’) is a genus of carnivorous coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China (Jianshangou Beds, dating to 124.6 Ma). While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx were larger. In 2007, the type specimen was the largest known compsognathid exemplar, at 2.37 m in length. In 2012, an even larger specimen was reported.

What we know

  • Named by Ji et al., 2007.
  • Body length estimated at about 2.37 m.
  • Fossils found in China.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Sinocalliopteryx — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.