Protoavis
Protoavis was a small, meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Texas, USA, about 210 million years ago. It had sharp teeth and big eyes at the front of its skull, which helped it see well in the dark. Some scientists think it might have been an early bird, but most disagree.1
When did it live?
How big was it?
How tall was it?
at the hips
Fun facts
Protoavis lived about 210 million years ago, which is 60 to 75 million years before the famous early bird Archaeopteryx.1
The fossils of Protoavis were found in a jumbled pile of bones, possibly from a flash flood that killed many animals at once.1
Protoavis had eyes at the front of its skull, which gave it binocular vision and suggests it may have been active at night or twilight.1
The first fossils of Protoavis were discovered in 1973 and were originally thought to be a young Coelophysis dinosaur.1
Most scientists doubt that Protoavis is a true bird, because the bones are too broken and mixed up to be sure they belong to one species.1
Protoavis was named by paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee in 1991, who thought it was an early bird from Texas.1
Most asked questions about Protoavis
?Is Protoavis a dinosaur?
Most scientists think Protoavis is a prehistoric reptile, but they are not sure if it is a bird or a mix of different animals. The page calls it a meat eating theropod.1
?How big was Protoavis?
Protoavis was about 35 centimetres tall, according to the scientist who first described it. That is about as tall as a ruler.1
?Did Protoavis have feathers?
Some scientists think it had feathers because of bumps on its arm bones, but others are not sure. No feather impressions have been found.12
?Could Protoavis fly?
If it was a bird, it could probably fly from tree to tree but not for long distances. However, most scientists doubt it was a bird at all.2
?When did Protoavis live?
Protoavis lived about 210 million years ago, during the Late Triassic period. That is 60 to 75 million years before Archaeopteryx.1
?What did Protoavis eat?
Protoavis was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. It had sharp teeth on the tip of its jaws for catching prey.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Protoavis is definitely the oldest known bird.
Truth: Most paleontologists doubt that Protoavis is a bird at all. The fossils are too fragmentary and jumbled to be sure they come from a single bird-like animal.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Protoavis
- Named by
- Chatterjee 19913
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Theropoda3
- Classification
- Theropoda3
- Age of the rocks
- 227 to 206 million years (Norian)3
- Rock formations
- Cooper Canyon3
- Countries
- USA3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Protoavis was named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1991 based on fossils found in the Dockum Group of Texas, USA, in 1973 and 1984. The bones were discovered in a mudstone deposit that may have formed after a flash flood.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Protoavis is a bird, a dinosaur, or a mix of different animals, because the fossils are so broken and incomplete.1
Where the facts come from
- Protoavis (en.wikipedia.org)
- Oldest known birds found in Texas mudstone - UPI Archives (upi.com)
- Protoavis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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