Wellnhoferia
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Late Jurassic (150 Mya)
- Place
- Germany
- Food
- Carnivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Wellnhoferia (named after Peter Wellnhofer) is a genus of early prehistoric bird-like theropod dinosaur closely related to Archaeopteryx. It is known from a single species, W. grandis, that lived in what is now Germany, during the Late Jurassic. While Wellnhoferia was similar to Archaeopteryx, it had a shorter tail and its fourth toe was shorter than that of Archaeopteryx. Andrzej Elżanowski (2001) of the Institute of Zoology of the University of Wrocław, Poland, determined the differences resulted from a “phylogenetic reduction rather than individual variation.”
What we know
- Named by Elżanowski, 2001.
- Fossils found in Germany.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Wellnhoferia — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.