Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Sinocalliopteryx

Say it sie-no-kall-ee-op-ter-iks. The name means ‘Chinese beautiful feather’.

Sinocalliopteryx 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: 2.4 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Early Cretaceousabout 125 million years ago
Fossils found in: China
Named by: Ji, Ji, Lü and Yuan (2007)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia

Where Sinocalliopteryx 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
Caudipteryx · same country
Confuciusornis · same country
Equijubus · same country
Jinzhousaurus · same country
Liaoceratops · same country
Sinosauropteryx · same country
Sinovenator · same country

Other small theropods

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

Source: Sinocalliopteryx 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.