恐龍卡第 1484 張，共 2 027 張

Protoavis

名字的意思： “first bird”1

吃：肉肉食恐龍三疊紀晚期

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

生存年代

227 到 206 百萬年前3

三疊紀晚期

化石發現地

Texas, USA1

高度

0.35 m (1.1 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 47 公里（29 英里）

跑步, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多高？

小到能從椅子底下走過去能在 7.7 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類要 9.6 秒）

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Protoavis 時速約 47 公里 (29 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

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

Protoavis 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Protoavis 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Protoavis 最常被問的問題

?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.1 2

?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

迷思破解王

迷思： Protoavis is definitely the oldest known bird.

真相： 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

給恐龍專家

學名: Protoavis
命名者: Chatterjee 19913
類群: 肉食恐龍
科 / 演化支: Theropoda3
分類: Theropoda3
岩石的年代: 227 到 206 百萬年 (Norian)3
岩層: Cooper Canyon3
國家: 美國3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆3
發現: 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
仍有爭議: 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