Eosinopteryx

dawn Chinese wing

• eos · Greek · dawn
• sino · Latin/Greek · Chinese, of China
• pteryx · Greek · wing, feather

The name combines the Greek "eos" (dawn), "Sino-" (Chinese) and "pteryx" (wing or feather). It refers to a small, feathered paravian dinosaur from the Jurassic of China, an early "dawn" representative of feathered theropods. The type species is Eosinopteryx brevipenna, with "brevipenna" meaning "short feather".

Named by

Godefroit et al.

Year named

2013

Period

Late Jurassic

Stage

Oxfordian

Found in

Tiaojishan Formation, Liaoning Province, China

A small feathered theropod usually placed among the paravians, often as a troodontid or close to them. Its feathers were short and covered the body and tail, but it appears to lack long wing feathers, so it was probably flightless. The exact placement is debated.