Open Paleo

Pedopenna

Xu & Zhang, 2005 ped-oh-PEN-uh /ˌpɛdoʊˈpɛnə/

From Latin pedo- (pes/pedis, 'foot') and penna ('feather' or 'quill'), meaning 'foot feather', referring to the long pennaceous feathers on the metatarsus

168.2–161.5 million years ago Bathonian–Callovian, Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic stages

Pedopenna (meaning "foot feather") is a genus of small, feathered, maniraptoran dinosaur from the Daohugou Beds in China. It is possibly older than Archaeopteryx, though the age of the Daohugou Beds where it was found is debated. A majority of studies suggest that the beds probably date from between the late Middle Jurassic (168 million years ago) and early Late Jurassic Period (164-152 million years ago).

Under dispute

Pedopenna daohugouensis is known only from a hindlimb, and its position is unstable. It has been recovered as an anchiornithid (Foth and Rauhut, 2017), as a more stemward avialan (Foth and colleagues, 2025), as a scansoriopterygid (Brusatte and colleagues, 2014; Hartman and colleagues, 2019), and as a basal paravian outside Eumaniraptora (Lefèvre and colleagues, 2017). It is placed conservatively at Paraves incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Very slender pedal phalanx I-1 (length/mid-shaft-diameter ratio about 7.2)
  2. Less specialized pedal digit II and phalanx II-2 longer than II-1 compared to dromaeosaurids and troodontids
  3. Short metatarsal V lacking posteromedial flange on metatarsal IV
  4. Hallux not reversed with pedal phalangeal portion shorter than metatarsus, unlike Aves including Epidendrosaurus
  5. Pennaceous feathers on metatarsus, approximately 45 mm long, with stiff rachis and flat vanes formed by parallel barbs

Species

Pedopenna daohugouensis Xu & Zhang, 2005

Type species

Named for Daohugou, the locality in China where the holotype was found.

Holotype
IVPP V12721 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Partial right leg and associated integumentary structures preserved on a slab as part and counterpart.
Horizon
Haifanggou Formation, Bathonian–Callovian, Middle Jurassic , 168.2–161.5 million years ago
Locality
Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China

References

  1. Xu, X.; Zhang, F. (2005). A new maniraptoran dinosaur from China with long feathers on the metatarsus. Naturwissenschaften 92(4): 173-177. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1007/s00114-004-0604-y xu2005a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  3. Foth, C.; Rauhut, O. W. M. (2017). Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1076-y

    Recovered Pedopenna as an anchiornithid.

    foth2017a
  4. 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 Pedopenna as a more stemward basal paravian.

    hartman2019a
  5. Lefèvre, U.; Cau, A.; Cincotta, A.; Hu, D.; Chinsamy, A.; Escuillié, F.; Godefroit, P. (2017). A new Jurassic theropod from China documents a transitional step in the macrostructure of feathers. The Science of Nature 104(9-10). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1007/s00114-017-1496-y

    Recovered Pedopenna as a basal paravian outside Eumaniraptora.

    lefèvre2017a
  6. Foth, C.; van de Kamp, T.; Tischlinger, H.; Kantelis, T.; Carney, R. M.; Zuber, M.; Hamann, E.; Wallaard, J. J. W.; Lenz, N.; Rauhut, O. W. M.; Frey, E. (2025). A new Archaeopteryx from the lower Tithonian Mörnsheim Formation at Mühlheim (Late Jurassic). Fossil Record 28(1): 17-43. doi:10.3897/fr.28.131671

    Recovered Pedopenna as a more stemward avialan, not an anchiornithid.

    foth2025a
  7. Brusatte, S. L.; Lloyd, G. T.; Wang, S. C.; Norell, M. A. (2014). Gradual Assembly of Avian Body Plan Culminated in Rapid Rates of Evolution across the Dinosaur-Bird Transition. Current Biology 24(20): 2386-2392. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.08.034

    Analyzed avian body plan assembly and recovered it as a scansoriopterygid

    brusatte2014a