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Feitianius

Say it: fay-tee-AN-ee-us
Name means: “flying apsara (a Buddhist nymph)”1
Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Feitianius was a small bird that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now China. It had a fancy tail with three different kinds of feathers, which it probably used to show off to other birds.1

Lived
121 to 113 million years ago3
Early Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Gansu Province, China12
Food
Meat2

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid
cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Feitianius had a tail with three different types of feathers, while most other early birds had only one type.1

2

The longest tail feathers were probably used for display, like the fancy tails of modern birds-of-paradise.1

3

Scientists think the fossil is a male because male birds today often have more colorful or elaborate tails.1

4

Feitianius lived about 121 to 113 million years ago, during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous.2

5

Its thighbone was only 27 millimeters long, so it was a very small bird.1

6

The fossil was found in the Xiagou Formation in Gansu, China.1

AI-madeAI-made picture of Feitianius
An AI-made picture of how Feitianius 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.
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Most asked questions about Feitianius

?How big was Feitianius?

Feitianius was very small. Its thighbone was only 27 millimetres long, so the whole bird was probably about the size of a modern sparrow.1

?Did Feitianius have feathers?

Yes, Feitianius had feathers. Its fossil preserves extensive soft tissues including plumage, and its tail had three different types of feathers.1

?What did Feitianius eat?

The sources do not say what Feitianius ate. Since it was a small bird, it probably ate insects or small plants, but no one knows for sure.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name
Feitianius
Named by
O'Connor et al. 20163
Group
Early birds
Family / clade
Enantiornithes3
Classification
Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks
121 to 113 million years (Aptian)3
Rock formations
Xiagou3
Countries
China3
Fossil records
1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery
Feitianius was named in 2015 by Jingmai O'Connor and colleagues. The fossil was found in 2005 near Changma, Gansu, China.1
Still debated
Scientists are not sure exactly how Feitianius is related to other enantiornithine birds, because its skeleton is incomplete.1

Where the facts come from

  1. Feitianius (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  3. Feitianius 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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