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Yixianosaurus

Say it: YEE-shee-ah-no-SORE-us

Name means: “Yixian lizard”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosEarly Cretaceous

Yixianosaurus was a small, feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It had very long hands with big curved claws, which it may have used to grab prey or climb trees. Scientists think it could even glide a little bit using its wing-like feathers.1

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Wangjiagou, Liaoning, China1 4

Food

Meat4 1

Length

1 m1

estimated

Weight

1 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 8 bananas

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to endlighter than a house catas heavy as 8 bananas

How big was Yixianosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Yixianosaurus had a very long hand that was 140% as long as its upper arm bone (humerus).1

Its second finger was the longest, and all fingers had large, curved claws.1

The only fossil found so far includes the shoulders, arms, some ribs, belly ribs, and feathers.1

Yixianosaurus is one of nine feathered dinosaur species reported from western Liaoning, China.2

Scientists think its long hands helped it grip branches or catch prey.1

Some researchers believe Yixianosaurus could glide because it had large feathers on its arms.1

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

?How big was Yixianosaurus?

About 1 meter (3.3 feet) long and weighed around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).1

?Did Yixianosaurus have feathers?

Yes, its fossil includes feathers that look similar to the contour feathers of early birds.1

?What did Yixianosaurus eat?

It was probably a predator, using its long hands and big curved claws to catch prey.1 3

?Could Yixianosaurus fly?

It could not truly fly, but it may have been able to glide a short distance using its large wing feathers.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Yixianosaurus
Named by: Xu and Wang 20034
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Maniraptora4
Classification: Theropoda4
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)4
Rock formations: Yixian4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Yixianosaurus was named by Xu Xing and Wang Xiaolin in 2003. Its partial skeleton was found in 2001 at Wangjiagou in Liaoning, China.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Yixianosaurus fits in the dinosaur family tree. Some think it is a close relative of Scansoriopteryx, others think it is a dromaeosaurid or a basal paravian.1

Where the facts come from

Yixianosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A NEW MANIRAPTORAN DINOSAUR FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS YIXIAN FORMATION OF WESTERN LIAONING (vertpala.ac.cn)
YIXIANOSAURUS LONGIMANUS(THEROPODA: DINOSAURIA) AND ITS BEARING ON THE EVOLUTION OF MANIRAPTORA AND ECOLOGY OF THE聽JEHOL聽FAUNA (vertpala.ac.cn)
Yixianosaurus 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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