Family
Valid Extinct

Sinosauropterygidae

Ji and Ji 1996

Compsognathidae is a potentially polyphyletic family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Compsognathids were small carnivores, generally conservative in form, hailing from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The bird-like features of these species, along with other dinosaurs such as Archaeopteryx inspired the idea for the connection between dinosaur reptiles and modern-day avian species. Compsognathid fossils preserve diverse integument — skin impressions are known from four genera commonly placed in the group, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx and Juravenator. While the latter three show evidence of a covering of some of the earliest primitive feathers over much of the body, Juravenator and Compsognathus also show evidence of scales on the tail or hind legs. "Ubirajara jubatus", informally described in 2020, had elaborate integumentary structures on its back and shoulders superficially similar to the display feathers of a standardwing bird-of-paradise, and unlike any other non-avian dinosaur currently described.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
5
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Sinosauropterygidae
click to enlarge
Compsognathidae skeletons to scale. © Jaime A. Headden (User:Qilong) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Sinosauropterygidae Family
Fossil sites 5 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
5
Geological formations
Yixian
5
Temporal distribution
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
5
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
Q. Ji and S. Ji. 1996. [On discovery of the earliest bird fossil in China and the origin of birds]. Chinese Geology 10(233):30-33
Bibliography (3)
R. Qiu, X. Wang, and S. Jiang, J. Meng, Z. Zhou. 2025. Two new compsognathid-like theropods show diversified predation strategies in theropod dinosaurs. National Science Review 12(5):nwaf068 DOI ↗
T. Lingham-Soliar, A. Feduccia, and X. Wang. 2007. A new Chinese specimen indicates that 'protofeathers' in the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx are degraded collagen fibres. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B DOI ↗
X. Wang, Y. Wang, and Y. Wang, X. Xu, Z. Tang, F. Zhang, Y. Hu. 1998. Stratigraphic sequence and vertebrate-bearing beds of the lower part of the Yixian Formation in Sihetun and neighboring area, western Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 36(2):81-101