Cryptovolans

hidden flyer

• crypto- · Greek · hidden
• volans · Latin · flying, flyer

The name combines the Greek "kryptos" (hidden) with the Latin "volans" (flying), so it means "hidden flyer". It was given to a small, four-winged feathered dinosaur from China. The type species is Cryptovolans pauli.

Named by

Czerkas, Zhang and Li

Year named

2002

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Aptian

Found in

Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China

Cryptovolans is generally regarded as a junior synonym of Microraptor (a dromaeosaurid, or microraptorine). The original authors argued that it differed from Microraptor in features such as its flight-related anatomy, but later studies did not support a separate genus. I am not fully sure of the exact stage, so treat it as approximate.