Anchiornis
AN-kee-OR-nis
"near bird"
- Lived
- 168 to 152 million years ago, Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Troodontidae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Xu et al. 2009
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
160 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in the forested Tiaojishan landscape of China. Regional neighbors included Caihong, Yi and Tianyulong.
Field notes
About Anchiornis
What it was like
Anchiornis was a small, feathered dinosaur with long feathers on both its arms and its legs, giving it four wing-like limbs rather than two. It probably could not fly well, if at all, but may have used its feathered limbs to glide or to help control its landings.
Its fossils are so well preserved that scientists have been able to work out its actual color pattern: gray body feathers, a reddish crest on the head, and black and white banding on the wings, one of the first times this has been done for any dinosaur.
It ate a mix of foods, making it an omnivore rather than a strict meat eater or plant eater.
Its world
Anchiornis lived from about 168 to 152 million years ago, spanning the Middle and Late Jurassic, in what is now China. Its fossils come from the Tiaojishan Formation.
It shared this forested world with other small feathered dinosaurs, including Yi, Epidexipteryx, Caihong, Pedopenna, Eosinopteryx, and Serikornis, as well as the armored plant eater Tianyulong.
How it was found
Xu and colleagues named Anchiornis in 2009. Only about three fossil finds of the genus are formally documented, but hundreds of individual specimens have since come from the same rocks, making it one of the best-known feathered dinosaurs and an important source of information on how birds evolved.
Field gallery
More views of Anchiornis
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Anchiornis.
The evidence
The science behind Anchiornis
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Skeletons preserve long feathers on both the arms and the legs, plus a feathered tail.
- Pigment structures in a studied specimen suggest a gray and dark body, white limb feathers with dark tips, and a reddish crest.
- Preserved body outlines include fleshy legs and the soft outline of the arms.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its own fossils supply much of the skeleton and feather arrangement.
- Living birds provide comparisons for interpreting the colors suggested by fossil pigment structures.
Still unknown
- How well it could glide or fly.
- The appearance and feather pattern of its young.
- How much its colors varied between individuals.
Often drawn wrong
- Bare lower legs leave out the long feathers preserved on its hindlimbs.
- A toothless modern bird beak replaces its toothed jaws with the wrong mouth.
Discovery timeline
- 2009Named itXu et al.
- 2009New findHu et al.
- 2010SkinLi et al.
- 2017Full descriptionWang et al.
- 2017SkinSaitta, Gelernter & Vinther
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Anchiornis
Named it
Introduced a small feathered dinosaur close to the evolutionary split between birds and their nearest dinosaur relatives.
A new feathered maniraptoran dinosaur fossil that fills a morphological gap in avian origin. Chinese Science Bulletin 54: 430-435
No link available
New find
Described a feathered skeleton with long feathers on its arms and lower legs, expanding the known range of early feather arrangements.
A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus. Nature 461: 640-643
Read the paper : A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus (opens in a new tab)Skin
Mapped pigment structures across a specimen to infer a dark body, pale limb feathers with dark tips, and a reddish crown.
Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur. Science 327: 1369-1372
Read the paper : Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur (opens in a new tab)Full description
Laser imaging revealed soft body outlines, including fleshy legs and details of the arms and feet.
Basal paravian functional anatomy illuminated by high-detail body outline. Nature Communications 8
Read the paper : Basal paravian functional anatomy illuminated by high-detail body outline (opens in a new tab)Skin
Described loosely arranged body feathers that would have given Anchiornis a fluffy coat.
Additional information on the primitive contour and wing feathering of paravian dinosaurs. Palaeontology 61: 273-288
Read the paper : Additional information on the primitive contour and wing feathering of paravian dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Troodontidae
Sources: Wikidata