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Serikornis

Say it: seh-ree-KOR-niss

Name means: “silken bird”1

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersLate Jurassic

Serikornis was a small, feathered dinosaur that lived about 160 million years ago. It had long feathers on its arms and legs, but it couldn't fly. Instead, it probably used its feathers for display or to help it run.1

Lived

162 to 155 million years ago5

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Liaoning, China1 5

Food

Meat5 2

Length

0.46 m2

estimate based on adult specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2.5 bananas end to end

How big was Serikornis compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

The name Serikornis means 'silken bird' because of its beautiful, feathery coat.1

It had long feathers on its hind legs all the way down to its toes, which is unusual for a ground-dwelling dinosaur.1

The feathers on its arms were symmetrical and didn't have tiny hooks called barbules, so they weren't good for flying.1

Serikornis lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 161 to 155 million years ago.2

It is only known from one complete skeleton found at Daxishan in Liaoning, China.5 2

Scientists think Serikornis was a ground-dwelling dinosaur that did not climb trees or fly.1

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

?How big was Serikornis?

About 45 cm (1.5 feet) long, about the size of a pheasant.3

?Could Serikornis fly?

No, it could not fly. Its feathers lacked tiny hooks called barbules, so they couldn't hold air for flight.3 1

?What did Serikornis eat?

It was a meat-eating theropod dinosaur, so it likely ate small animals like insects or lizards.4

?When did Serikornis live?

It lived about 160 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period.4 3

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Myth buster

Myth: Serikornis was a flying dinosaur with four wings.

Truth: Serikornis had long feathers on its legs and arms, but it could not fly and probably lived on the ground.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Serikornis
Named by: Lefèvre et al. 20175
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Paraves5
Classification: Theropoda5
Age of the rocks: 162 to 155 million years (Oxfordian)5
Rock formations: Tiaojishan5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Serikornis was named in 2017 by a team of scientists including Ulysse Lefèvre and Andrea Cau. The only fossil was found in the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning, China.1 5
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Serikornis is a very early bird relative or a more primitive dinosaur, and exactly how its feathers evolved.1

Where the facts come from

A new Jurassic theropod from China documents a transitional step in the macrostructure of feathers (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
New Feathered Dinosaur Had Four Wings but Couldn't Fly | National Geographic (nationalgeographic.com)
Serikornis (en.wikipedia.org)
Serikornis 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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