Fukuivenator

Say it: foo-KOO-ee-ven-ay-tor

Name means: “Fukui hunter”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosEarly Cretaceous

Fukuivenator was a small, fast dinosaur that lived in what is now Japan. It had a strange mix of features from different dinosaur groups, making it a real puzzle for scientists. This dinosaur might have eaten both plants and meat, like a modern raccoon.1 2

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fukui Prefecture, Japan1 3

Food

A bit of everything1 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Fukuivenator is known from a nearly complete skeleton, making it the most complete non-bird dinosaur ever found in Japan.1 2

Its inner ear was shaped like a mix between those of birds and other dinosaurs, showing a step in the evolution of bird hearing.1 2

Fukuivenator had a very large nostril opening, almost as tall as another hole in its skull called the antorbital fenestra.1

This dinosaur had different kinds of teeth in its mouth, a feature called heterodonty. Some teeth were small and spatula-shaped, while others were large and curved.1

Scientists cannot place Fukuivenator into any known dinosaur group. It seems to be a very early member of the maniraptoran family, but with a unique mix of traits.1 2

The fossil was found in 2007 in a quarry near the Sugiyama River in Katsuyama, Japan. It was buried in rock that is about 121 to 113 million years old.1 3

AI-made picture of Fukuivenator — An AI-made picture of how Fukuivenator 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 Fukuivenator

?How big was Fukuivenator?

Fukuivenator was about 2.45 metres (8.0 feet) long and weighed around 25 kilograms (55 pounds).4 1

?What did Fukuivenator eat?

Fukuivenator probably ate both plants and meat, like a modern raccoon. Its teeth and long neck suggest it was at least omnivorous, maybe even mostly herbivorous.4 1

?Where was Fukuivenator found?

Fukuivenator was found in 2007 in a quarry near the Sugiyama River in Katsuyama, Japan. The skeleton is the most complete non-bird dinosaur fossil ever found in Japan.4 1

?When did Fukuivenator live?

Fukuivenator lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 127 to 115 million years ago. That's based on radiometric dating of nearby rocks.4

?Did Fukuivenator have feathers?

No direct feather fossils are known for Fukuivenator, but it was a coelurosaurian theropod, a group that includes feathered dinosaurs. So it likely had feathers, though we can't be sure.4 1

?Why is Fukuivenator called a paradox?

Its species name 'paradoxus' means 'paradoxical' because it has a strange mix of features from different dinosaur groups, making it hard to classify. It's a puzzle for scientists.4 1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Fukuivenator
Named by: Azuma et al. 20165
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Therizinosauria5
Classification: Theropoda > Therizinosauria5
Age of the rocks: 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)5
Rock formations: Kitadani5
Countries: Japan5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Fukuivenator was named in 2016 by a team led by Yoichi Azuma. The fossil was found in the summer of 2007 in the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry in Fukui, Japan. It was a nearly complete skeleton, the most complete non-bird dinosaur from Japan.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure which dinosaur group Fukuivenator belongs to. It has features of dromaeosaurids, therizinosaurs, and other groups, but its exact family tree is still debated.1 2

Where the facts come from

A bizarre theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Japan highlighting mosaic evolution among coelurosaurians | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
A bizarre theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Japan highlighting mosaic evolution among coelurosaurians (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Fukuivenator (en.wikipedia.org)
Fukuivenator in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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