Dinosaur VaultEvery known dinosaur
Sinornithoides, Early CretaceousEjinhoro Formation, China · named 1994
See more pictures

Sinornithoides

"Chinese bird form"

Lived
137 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
Diet
Omnivore
Group
Theropods, Troodontidae
Found in
China
Named by
Russell and Dong 1994

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

2 finds

120 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

It lived inland in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. Regional neighbors included Psittacosaurus and Wuerhosaurus.

Field notes

About Sinornithoides

What it was like

Sinornithoides was a small troodontid, a feathered theropod about the size of a chicken. Its only skeleton was found curled up, as if asleep, like a modern bird.

Its world

It lived in the Early Cretaceous, in what is now China. It shared its world with the parrot-beaked Psittacosaurus.

How it was found

Russell and Dong named Sinornithoides in 1994, from a nearly complete skeleton.

Field gallery

More views of Sinornithoides

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Sinornithoides in its habitat, photo 1

1 of 2

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 Sinornithoides.

The evidence

The science behind Sinornithoides

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • The type skeleton preserves much of the skull, limbs and tail, including jaws with small serrated teeth.
  • Its neck and tail curl beside the body in a bird-like resting pose.
  • At least two hand claws preserve traces of thick keratin near their tips. Its second toe has a more curved claw than the other toes.

Borrowed from relatives

  • Much of the body is known from its own skeleton; Jianianhualong provides a comparison for the missing skull roof, neck and trunk.
  • Feathers are inferred from feathered relatives such as Anchiornis and Jianianhualong.

Still unknown

  • Its feather color and markings, exact diet and hatchling appearance.
  • Its complete skull roof and the missing parts of its neck and back.
  • One later analysis places Sinornithoides outside Troodontinae, unlike some earlier ones.

Discovery timeline

  1. 1994Named itRussell & Dong
  2. 2001Full descriptionCurrie & Zhiming
  3. 2004PostureXu & Norell
  4. 2009SkinHu et al.
  5. 2017SkinXu et al.
  6. 2024Family treeKubota, Kobayashi & Ikeda

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Sinornithoides

Close relatives

Other members of Troodontidae

Sources: Wikidata