Protarchaeopteryx

DV-0406

Lived: 126 to 120 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
Diet: Omnivore
Length: about 2 m (7 ft)
Group: Theropods
Found in: China
Named by: Ji and Ji 1997

Field notes

About Protarchaeopteryx

Protarchaeopteryx was an omnivorous theropod that lived in the Early Cretaceous, 126 to 120 million years ago.

The Paleobiology Database lists 1 find of Protarchaeopteryx, from China. Its fossils come from the Yixian Formation. It was named by Ji and Ji in 1997.

The evidence

Where its fossils were found

Today

1 find

125 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

To scale

How big was Protarchaeopteryx?

Protarchaeopteryx: about 2 m (7 ft) · Person: 1.8 m (6 ft)Silhouette: typical theropod shape

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations.

Close relatives

Other members of Oviraptorosauria.

Sources: Paleobiology Database, WikidataNamed in: Q. Ji and S.-A. Ji. 1997. [Protarchaeopteryx gen. nov.—a new genus of Archaeopterygidae in China]. Chinese Geology 238(3):38-41