HOME PAGE
 Eras of Life
 Dinosaur Evolution
 Feathered Dinosaurs

Species

 Compsognathidae

 MYA
   Compsognathus

150

   Sinosauropteryx

130
 Therizinosauroidea
   Beipiaosaurus

130

   Falcarius

125
   Alxasaurus

112
   Erlikosaurus

95
   Therizinosaurus

75
 Oviraptoridae
   Caudipteryx

140
   Insicivosaurus

120
   Avimimus

95
   Chirostenotes

70
   Rinchenia

70
   Nomingia

68
   Oviraptor

67
 Dromaeosauridae
   Microraptor

126
   Deinonychus

120
   Buitreraptor

90
   Unenlagia

90
   Bambiraptor

80
   Atrociraptor

70
   Dromaeosaurus

70
   Velociraptor

67
 Tyrannosauridae
   Dilong

130
 Troodontidae
   Mei long

130
   Sinornithoides

105
   Troodon

 67
 Alvarezsauridae
  Patagonykus 95
  Shuvuuia 80
  Alvarezsaurus 80
  Parvicursor 80
  Mononykus 70
 Aves (birds)
   Protarchaeopteryx

135
   Archaeopteryx

147
  Recent Discoveries
  Juraventor Starki

Information
 Tyrannosaurs
 Weird Dinosaurs
 Prehistoric Sea Monsters
 Pterosaurs
 Sauropods

 

 
Beipiaosaurus inexpectatus(Xu, Tang & Wang, 1999)

Name Means: "Beipiao lizard" Length: 7 feet (2.2 m)
Pronounced: Bay-pee-o-Sore-us Weight: 100 pounds (45 kilos)
When it lived: Early Cretaceous - 130 MYA    
Where found: Liaoning, China    
    The discovery of Beipiaosaurus was announced in the May 27, 1999, issue of the journal Nature   It was discovered in the famous shale quarries of Liaoning, China, which are well known for producing many incredibly detailed fossils of small dinosaurs and birds. This area has also produced the earliest beaked bird known, Confuciusornis, the earliest modern bird known, Liaoningornis, and the three feathered non-avian dinosaurs Sinosauropteryx, a compsognathid, Caudipteryx, an oviraptorid, and Protarchaeopteryx. It was named after Beipiao County, where it was found
  The remains are fragmentary, consisting of Cranial fragments, mandible, 3 cervical vertebrae, 4 dorsal vertebrae, 1 caudal vertebra, scapula and scapulacoracoid, complete forelimb, and a complete pelvis with hind limb, but with its huge, sharp, curved hand claws, it could only be a Therizinosaur.
      Most of the bird/dinosaur relationship studies are conducted on specimens from this quarry, as unique ecological conditions preserved even the soft parts of the animals that died at this site. These unusual conditions allowed for the perfect preservation of feathers. Beipiaosaurus had the longest feathers of any dinosaur yet found. These were protofeathers (See Feather Evolution) very similar to those of Sinosauropteryx. Author Xing Xu writes: "Most integumentary filaments are about 50 mm in length, although the longest is up to 70 mm. Some have indications of branching distal ends." Recent microscopic study of the structures of Sinosauropteryx show they are hollow with branching filaments, and generally indicate that they are a type of feather similar to, but different from, modern bird feathers.
    Classified as a meat-eater, it is thought that these dinosaurs would also have fed on insects a great deal of the time. It is considered a bird-like dinosaur and shared a number of features that are now found on modern birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
    
 

 

Poster is available at
www.Edugraphics.net

  
 
Edugraphics.Net | Feenixx Publishing |