Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Confuciusornis

Say it kon-few-shus-or-niss. The name means ‘Confucius bird’.

Confuciusornis beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 0.3 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Early Cretaceous127 to 121 million years ago
Fossils found in: China
Named by: Hou, Zhou, Gu and Zhang (1995)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Paraves › Eumaniraptoria › Avialae › Ornithurae › Avibrevicauda › Pygostylia › Confuciusornithidae

Where Confuciusornis sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Beipiaosaurus · same country
Equijubus · same country
Jinzhousaurus · same country
Liaoceratops · same country
Sinovenator · same country
Caudipteryx · same country
Sinosauropteryx · same country
Protarchaeopteryx · same country

Other small theropods

Beipiaosaurus Early Cretaceous
Pelecanimimus Early Cretaceous
Sinovenator Early Cretaceous
Shanag Early Cretaceous
Caudipteryx Early Cretaceous
Sinocalliopteryx Early Cretaceous
Sinosauropteryx Early Cretaceous
Protarchaeopteryx Early Cretaceous

Source: Confuciusornis in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.