Sinornithoides

Chinese bird-like form

• Sino- · Late Latin / Greek · China, Chinese
• ornithos · Greek · bird
• -oides · Greek · resembling, -like form

The name combines the prefix for "China" with the Greek words for "bird" and "resembling", giving "Chinese bird-like form". It was chosen because this small, slender theropod from China had a bird-like skeleton. The only named species, S. youngi, honours the Chinese palaeontologist C. C. Young (Yang Zhongjian).

Named by

Russell and Dong

Year named

1993

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Aptian – Albian

Found in

Ejinhoro Formation, Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, China

A small troodontid theropod known from a nearly complete skeleton, found curled up in a sleeping-like posture. The exact age of the formation is somewhat uncertain, so the stage range is approximate.