Genus
Valid Extinct

Zhenyuanlong

Lü and Brusatte 2015
Etymology dragon de Zhenyuan

Zhenyuanlong is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It lived during the Aptian age of the early Cretaceous period, approximately 125 million years ago. It is known from a single specimen belonging to the species Zhenyuanlong suni. This type specimen preserved a nearly complete skeleton that contains traces of feathers, including long tail feathers and large wings. In addition to further complicating diversity of Liaoning dromaeosaurids, this specimen provides the first direct evidence of well-developed pennaceous feathers in a large, non-flying dromaeosaur, raising the question of what function such wings would serve.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Zhenyuanlong
click to enlarge
Figure 1: The holotype of the large-bodied, short-armed Liaoning dromaeosaurid Zhenyuanlong suni gen et. sp. nov. (JPM-0008). © Junchang Lü & Stephen L. Brusatte · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Maniraptora Unranked clade
Paraves Unranked clade
Deinonychosauria Infraorder
Dromaeosauridae Family
Zhenyuanlong Genus
Measurements
Length
1,7 m
Zhenyuanlong suni
Mass
8,5 kg
Zhenyuanlong suni
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Yixian
1
Temporal distribution
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Zhenyuanlong suni 126 Ma
Images 3
Bibliography
Original description
J.-C. Lü and S. L. Brusatte. 2015. A large, short-armed, winged dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of China and its implications for feather evolution. Scientific Reports 5:11775 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
J.-C. Lü and S. L. Brusatte. 2015. A large, short-armed, winged dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of China and its implications for feather evolution. Scientific Reports 5:11775 DOI ↗