Feathered theropod dinosaur — Sinosauropteryx prima

Geologic period: Early Cretaceous — Aptian

Age: Approximately 130 to 125 million years ago.

Feeding: Carnivorous.

Locomotion: Bipedal terrestrial locomotion.

Body plan: Small bipedal theropod with a long tail, short forelimbs and a covering of simple filamentous feathers.

Evidence: Skeleton and feather impressions are direct. Melanosome and pigment distributions support reconstruction of countershading and tail banding.

Why it matters: Sinosauropteryx was among the first non-avian dinosaurs found with clear feather-like structures, and preserved pigment evidence allows unusually detailed color-pattern studies.

Plain Language Identity: A small feathered theropod from Early Cretaceous China.

What You Are Looking At: A cast based on an exceptionally preserved skeleton with filamentous feather-like integument.

Ecosystem: Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of northeastern China.

Formation: Yixian Formation.

Find Location: China.

Preservation: Visitor object is a cast based on exceptionally preserved fossils.

Open Questions: Reconstructed color pattern should remain tied to the specific preserved pigment evidence rather than artistic invention.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_12307249; https://australian.museum/learn/dinosaurs/fact-sheets/sinosauropteryx-prima/

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; comparative chronology retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Sinosauropteryx prima

Evidence / representation: comparative_taxon_visual

comparative_taxon_visual

Cretaceous Worlds: Dinosaurs at Their Most Diverse.

Media license: CC0

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en