Open Paleo

Jinfengopteryx

Ji et al., 2005 jin-feng-OP-tuh-rix

From Chinese Jinfeng (golden phoenix, the queen of birds in Chinese folklore) and Ancient Greek pteryx (feather, wing); meaning 'golden phoenix feather'

125.8–121.4 million years ago Barremian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Jinfengopteryx is a genus of maniraptoran dinosaur from the Qiaotou Member of the Huajiying Formation of Hebei Province, China.

Under dispute

Jinfengopteryx was originally described as a basal avialan/archaeopterygid (Ji and colleagues, 2005) but is now generally recovered as a troodontid, and is the type genus of Jinfengopteryginae (Turner and colleagues, 2012; Sellés and colleagues, 2021). Its finer position is unstable — Hartman and colleagues (2019) recover it equally in Sinovenatorinae or with the jinfengopterygines, and some analyses shift it stemward as a basal paravian.

Diagnosis

  1. More and closely packed teeth than Archaeopteryx: 18 teeth in both lower and upper jaws respectively, with no interdental plates between dentary teeth
  2. Relatively shorter and higher preorbital portion of the skull compared to Archaeopteryx
  3. Relatively shorter metacarpal II compared to metacarpal I (metacarpal II ~2.5x length of metacarpal I, versus >3x in Archaeopteryx)
  4. Comparatively longer and more robust hindlimb with forelimb-to-hindlimb ratio of 0.62
  5. Teeth fewer and unserrated compared to troodontids; conical tooth with D-shaped cross-section

Species

Jinfengopteryx elegans Ji et al., 2005

Type species

From Latin 'elegans' meaning 'elegant', describing the delicate nature of the fossil and its well-preserved feathers.

Holotype
CAGS-IG-04-0801 , Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
Material
Complete skeleton with feather impressions
Horizon
middle Qiaotou Member, Huajiying Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Longfengshan Hill, Hebei, China

References

  1. Ji, Q.; Ji, S. A.; Lü, J. C.; You, H. L.; Chen, W.; Liu, Y. Q.; Liu, Y. X. (2005). First avialian bird from China. Geological Bulletin of China 24(3): 197-210. ji2005a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass estimate.

    paul2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  4. Turner, A. H.; Makovicky, P. J.; Norell, M. A. (2012). A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1-206. doi:10.1206/748.1

    Paravian phylogeny review recovered Jinfengopteryx as troodontid, type of Jinfengopteryginae.

    turner2012a
  5. Sellés, A. G.; Vila, B.; Brusatte, S. L.; Currie, P. J.; Galobart, À. (2021). A fast-growing basal troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the latest Cretaceous of Europe. Scientific Reports 11(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83745-5

    Basal troodontid description supported Jinfengopteryginae placement for Jinfengopteryx.

    sellés2021a
  6. Hartman, S.; Mortimer, M.; Wahl, W. R.; Lomax, D. R.; Lippincott, J.; Lovelace, D. M. (2019). A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight. PeerJ 7: e7247. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.7247

    Recovered Jinfengopteryx unstably between Sinovenatorinae and the jinfengopterygines.

    hartman2019a
  7. Jin, F.; Zhang, F.; Li, Z.; Zhang, J.; Li, C.; Zhou, Z. (2008). On the horizon of Protopteryx and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota. Chinese Science Bulletin 53(18): 2820-2827. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1007/s11434-008-0209-5

    Reduces the Qiaotou Formation to a member of the Huajiying Formation and lists this taxon from that horizon. Its Dadianzi correlation belongs to the neighboring Sichakou basin, not to this one.

    jin2008a