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China’s Feathered Dinosaurs
Sinosauropteryx
(juvenile specimen)
(Sine-oh-sore-OP-ter-iks = “Chinese dragon wing”)
120 to 150 million years before present
Yixian Formation
Sihetun, Liaoning Province, China
National Geological Museum of China
CLOSE WINDOW
plumage, indicating that feathers arose before flight. Discovered only three years ago in 1996, this small
Sinosauropteryx was the first non-flying dinosaur fossil found to have feather impressions. We think it
was a juvenile because a similar looking but much larger individual was found nearby the following year.
The joint coincidence of small body size and downy plumage at such an early stage in theropod evolution
—well before the evolution of the modern avian flight apparatus—suggests that the role of feathers in
retaining body heat preceded their function in flight.