Jinfengopteryx

Jinfengopteryx is known from a single nearly complete skeleton that includes impressions of feathers around its neck, body, hips, legs, and tail.1

Its tail feathers were long and vaned, getting longer toward the tip of the tail.1

Unlike some other feathered dinosaurs, Jinfengopteryx did not have flight feathers on its hind legs.1

The fossil of Jinfengopteryx contains several small, reddish-yellow oval structures that might be seeds it ate, or possibly eggs or follicles.1

Some scientists think Jinfengopteryx was a troodontid, a group of smart, bird-like dinosaurs, because of its enlarged claw on the second toe.1

A 2020 study found that Jinfengopteryx had flight abilities similar to other flying non-avian theropods like Microraptor.1

Jinfengopteryx lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 122 million years ago.1