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 |