Outline: a typical theropod
Epidendrosaurus
"on the tree lizard"
- Lived
- 165 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Scansoriopterygidae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Zhang et al. 2002
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
165 million years ago
Field notes
About Epidendrosaurus
What it was like
Epidendrosaurus was a tiny feathered dinosaur, known from a skeleton of a very young animal. Its third finger was very long, much longer than the others, and it may have helped it climb trees or hold up a wing of skin.
Many scientists think it is the same animal as Scansoriopteryx.
Its world
It lived in the Middle Jurassic in what is now northeastern China. Its skeleton comes from the Tiaojishan Formation, where it shared the land with Anchiornis, Epidexipteryx and Yi.
How it was found
Zhang and colleagues named Epidendrosaurus in 2002, from a single find.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Scansoriopterygidae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: F. Zhang, Z. Zhou, and X. Xu, X. Wang. 2002. A juvenile coelurosaurian theropod from China indicates arboreal habits. Naturwissenschaften 89(9):394-398