Feathered Dinosaur - A Comprehesnive Study

Families and Species

The dinosaur families shown on this page are known to contain species that had feathers. Since very close relatives had them, most scientists believe that all members of the family had them, even though it cannot yet proven by fossilized evidence. Since feathers are extremely fragile, they very, very rarely fossilize, so such evidence may never be found.

	Compsognathidae - First appeared: 155 MYA The Compsognathidae is a group of small, lightly-built coelurosaurs with relatively long legs and arms with three-fingered hands. The genera contains only two members. Compsognathus was for many years the smallest known dinosaur.
	Therizinosauroidea - First appeared: 125 MYA Therizinosaurs are the strangest dinosaurs ever discovered. These are incredibly weird animals that baffled paleontologists for many years. They are characterized by massive claws. Over millions of years they evolved from fast carnivores into relatively laid-back herbivores.
	Oviraptoridae - First appeared: 140 MYA The toothless dinosaurs are distinguished by a massive beak and the highly specific in configuration and structure of the lower jaw with the characteristic articular joint. The name means "egg robber," because that is what they were first thought to be. It is known that they protected their eggs.
	Dromaeosauridae - First appeared: 125 MYA The dromaeosaurs were the most birdlike of all dinosaurs. Of special interest is their forelimbs, which permitted highly flexible seizing, great for grabbing prey. It was this ability which may have made possible the "flight stroke."
	Troodontidae - First appeared: 110 MYA The troodontids are best characterized as small, rather delicate theropods with relatively the largest brains of any classic dinosaur, long and slender legs, and unusual teeth. The fossil record is very sparse, so little is known of these interesting animals.
	Alvarezsauridae - First Appeared 95 MYA These animals have characteristics both both birds and dinosaurs. They are characterized a large single claw finger on the forelimbs. All other theropods have three. They were first classified as dinosaurs, then as flightless birds. Current thinking is that are dinosaurs.
	Aves (birds) - First appeared: 150 MYA Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates traditionally characterized by the presence of feathers. Their forelimbs are wings. They have hollow bones. Surprisingly, the first bird lived many millions of years before many of the feathered dinosaurs. This it it did not evolve from them, but rather evolved simultaneously with them.

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