Famille
Valide Éteint

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.

Résumé en anglais — version française non disponible.

Plage temporelle
Trias
Jurassique
Crétacé
Paléogène
Néogène
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
Occurrences PBDB
5
Groupe
Dinosaures
Carnivore Vivant au sol, solitaire Terrestre
Sinosauropterygidae
cliquer pour agrandir
Compsognathidae skeletons to scale. © Jaime A. Headden (User:Qilong) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia

Légende en anglais — traduction française non disponible.

PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Clade non classé
Theropoda Clade non classé
Neotheropoda Clade non classé
Averostra Clade non classé
Tetanurae Clade non classé
Coelurosauria Clade non classé
Sinosauropterygidae Famille
Sites de découverte 5 sites géolocalisés
Répartition
Principaux pays
🇨🇳 Chine
5
Formations géologiques
Yixian
5
Distribution temporelle
Barrémien (125.77–121.4 Ma)
5
Images 1
Bibliographie
Description originale
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
Bibliographie (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