Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Sinosauropteryx

Say it sine-oh-sore-op-ter-iks. The name means ‘Chinese lizard wing’.

Sinosauropteryx 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: 1.1 m
Diet: Meat-eatersmall animals, including mammals and lizards
Walked: On 2 legs
When: Early Cretaceous125 to 122 million years ago
Fossils found in: China
Named by: Ji and Ji (1996)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Compsognathidae

Where Sinosauropteryx 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
Sinovenator · same country
Protarchaeopteryx · same country

Other small theropods

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

Source: Sinosauropteryx 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.