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Caihong

Say it: KAI-hong

Name means: “rainbow big crest”1

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersLate Jurassic

Caihong was a tiny, feathered dinosaur that lived about 161 million years ago. It had shiny, rainbow-colored feathers on its head, chest and tail, like a hummingbird. This little meat-eater was only as long as a ruler and weighed about as much as a can of soup.1 2

Lived

162 to 155 million years ago3

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Gangou, Qinglong County, Hebei Province, China1 2

Food

Meat3

Length

0.4 m2

Wingspan

0.44 m2

Weight

0.475 kg1 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2 bananas end to endlighter than a house cat

How big was Caihong compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Caihong had a big bony crest on its skull, which is unusual for a close relative of birds.1 2

Its tail feathers were asymmetrical, like the flight feathers of modern birds, and gave it a tail surface area even larger than that of Archaeopteryx.1

Caihong had longer arm and leg feathers than its relative Anchiornis.1

Its forearm bones (ulna and radius) were longer than its upper arm bone (humerus), a feature seen in more advanced birds.1

The fossil preserves nanostructures that look like the melanosomes that create iridescent colors in living birds, so Caihong probably had shiny, rainbow-like feathers.1 2

Caihong lived during the Oxfordian age of the Jurassic Period, about 161 million years ago.1 2

AI-made picture of Caihong — An AI-made picture of how Caihong might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Caihong

?How big was Caihong?

About 40 centimetres (16 inches) long and weighed about 475 grams (16.8 ounces). That is about as long as a ruler and as heavy as a can of soup.2

?Did Caihong have feathers?

Yes, it had feathers on its arms, legs, tail, head and chest. The fossil even preserved the feather shapes and colour-making structures.2 1

?What did Caihong eat?

It was a meat-eater. Its sharp, recurved teeth show it ate small animals like insects or lizards.2

?Why did Caihong have a crest?

Scientists think the bony crest on its skull was used for showing off. It may have helped attract mates or signal to others.1

?Could Caihong fly?

It had long arm and tail feathers with asymmetrical vanes, like modern flying birds, and longer forearms than its upper arms. This suggests it could glide or flap, but it probably was not a strong flier.1 2

?When did Caihong live?

It lived about 161 million years ago, during the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic Period.2 1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Caihong
Named by: Hu et al. 20183
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Paraves3
Classification: Theropoda3
Age of the rocks: 162 to 155 million years (Oxfordian)3
Rock formations: Tiaojishan3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: A farmer named Yang Jun found the skeleton in a quarry near Nanshimenzi Village, China, in February 2014. It was later named Caihong juji in 2018 by a team of scientists led by Hu Dongyu.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Caihong used its long feathers and asymmetrical tail, and whether it could fly or just glide.1

Where the facts come from

A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution | Nature Communications (nature.com)
Caihong (en.wikipedia.org)
Caihong in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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