Epidexipteryx
"display feather"
Type species Epidexipteryx hui
- Lived
- 165 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Zhang et al. 2008
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
165 million years ago
Habitat
Forests in the Tiaojishan Formation included ferns, ginkgo relatives and conifers. Anchiornis and Yi lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Epidexipteryx
What it was like
Epidexipteryx was a tiny feathered dinosaur, about the size of a pigeon. Its body was covered in short feathers, and its short tail ended in long, ribbon-like plumes that were probably for show rather than flight.
It had a short, high skull with forward-pointing front teeth, and a very long third finger, a feature it shared with its odd relatives, the scansoriopterygids.
Its world
It lived about 165 to 162 million years ago, in the Middle Jurassic, in what is now China. Its fossil comes from the Tiaojishan Formation, where other small feathered dinosaurs such as Anchiornis and the bat-winged Yi also lived.
How it was found
Zhang and colleagues named Epidexipteryx in 2008. The type species is Epidexipteryx hui. It is known from a single skeleton.
Field gallery
More views of Epidexipteryx
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
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 Epidexipteryx.
The evidence
The science behind Epidexipteryx
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A single skeleton preserves short body feathers and long, ribbon-shaped tail plumes.
- Its short, deep skull has enlarged front teeth that point forward.
- Its bony tail is short, and its hands have unusually long fingers.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of its body shape and feather covering come from its own fossil.
- The related Yi and Ambopteryx had membrane wings, inspiring suggestions that Epidexipteryx may have had them too.
Still unknown
- Whether it had membrane wings or could glide.
- Its feather colors and the complete length of its tail plumes.
- What it ate and how it used its long fingers.
Discovery timeline
- 2008Named itZhang et al.
- 2015Close relativeXu et al.
- 2019Close relativeWang et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Epidexipteryx
Named it
Described the skeleton and its ribbon-shaped tail feathers, which probably served as ornaments for display.
A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers. Nature 455: 1105-1108
Read the paper : A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described Yi, a relative with long wrist rods and preserved wing membranes, revealing a different route toward flight among feathered dinosaurs.
A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran theropod with preserved evidence of membranous wings. Nature 521: 70-73
Read the paper : A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran theropod with preserved evidence of membranous wings (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described membrane wings in Ambopteryx, strengthening the case that this unusual wing design occurred in several members of the family.
A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and the loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs. Nature 569: 256-259
Read the paper : A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and the loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Paraves
Sources: Wikidata