Compsognathidae

Compsognathus (; Greek kompsos/κομψός; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and gnathos/γνάθος; "jaw") is a genus of small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species Compsognathus longipes could grow to around the size of a chicken. They lived about 150 million years ago, during the Tithonian age of the late Jurassic period, in what is now Europe. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in Germany in the 1850s and the second in France more than a century later. Today, C. longipes is the only recognized species, although the French specimen was o

Sinosauropteryx (meaning "Chinese reptilian wing") is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Described in 1996, it was the first dinosaur taxon outside of Avialae (birds and their immediate relatives) to be found with evidence of feathers. It was covered with a coat of very simple filament-like feathers. Structures that indicate the colour pattern have also been preserved in some of its feathers, which show that Sinosauropteryx had a countershading pattern in its body with a banded tail. The reddish brown colouration previously inferred for Sinosauropteryx is based on the melan

Compsognathidae is a potentially polyphyletic family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Compsognathids were small carnivores, generally conservative in form, hailing from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The bird-like features of these species, along with other dinosaurs such as Archaeopteryx inspired the idea for the connection between dinosaur reptiles and modern-day avian species. Compsognathid fossils preserve diverse integument — skin impressions are known from four genera commonly placed in the group, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx and Juravenator. While the latt

Scipionyx ( ) was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Pietraroja Formation of Italy, around 113 million years ago.

Juravenator is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur which lived about 152 or 151 million years ago in modern day Franconian Jura of Germany (Torleite Formation) during the Late Jurassic. It is known from a single, juvenile specimen measuring about in length.

Aristosuchus (from the Ancient Greek ἄριστος, meaning "bravest, best, noblest", and σουχος, the Ancient Greek corruption of the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed god Sobek) is a genus of small coelurosaurian dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous period (Barremian stage, sometime between 130 and 123 million years ago) of what is now England, UK. The type and only species is Aristosuchus pusillus, originally referred to the carnosaurian genus Poekilopleuron.

Sinocalliopteryx (meaning 'Chinese beautiful feather') is a genus of carnivorous coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China (Jianshangou Beds, dating to 124.6 Ma). While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx were larger. In 2007, the type specimen was the largest known compsognathid exemplar, at in length. In 2012, an even larger specimen was reported.

Huaxiagnathus is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. The genus contains a single species, Huaxiagnathus orientalis, known from two immature individuals from the Yixian Formation. Huaxiagnathus may represent an earlier ontogenetic stage of the tyrannosauroid Sinotyrannus from the younger Jiufotang Formation.

Aniksosaurus (meaning "spring lizard", from Modern Greek Άνοιξη, "Spring", referring to the fact it was found on 21 September 1995, the onset of Spring on the Southern Hemisphere) is a genus of avetheropod dinosaur from what is now Chubut Province, Argentina. It lived during the Cenomanian to Turonian of the Cretaceous period, between 96-91 million years ago. The type species, Aniksosaurus darwini, was formally described from the Bajo Barreal Formation of the Golfo San Jorge Basin by Rubén Dario Martínez and Fernando Emilio Novas in 2006; the name was first coined in 1995 and reported in the l

Mirischia is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Albian stage (Early Cretaceous Period) of northeastern Brazil.

species of theropod

Huadanosaurus is an extinct genus of compsognathid-like theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, H. sinensis, known from a nearly complete skeleton preserving feather-like structures.

Xunmenglong (from ) is a genus of compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the Huajiying Formation of Hebei Province, China. The type and only species is Xunmenglong yinliangis. The holotype material consists of a pelvis, tail base and hindlimbs that had previously been part of a chimera containing three different animals. The animal is described as being the smallest known member of Compsognathidae, being about the size of the sub-adult Scipionyx holotype specimen, or approximately in length.

Beipiaognathus (meaning Beipiao jaw) is a dubious genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. The type species is Beipiaognathus jii and it was named and described by Hu et al. in 2016.