August 30th, 2012 
riffin Sinocalliopteryx (meaning ‘Chinese beautiful feather’) is a genus of carnivorous ciomsognathid theropod dinisaurs from the lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation if China (Jianshangou Beds, dating to 124.6 Ma).
Sinocalliopteryx
While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx were larger, and at 2.37 meters (7.78 ft) in length, includes the largest known compsognathid specimen.
Sinocalliopteryx was a bipedal predator. The preserved length of the holotype specimen is 237 centimetres. Its weight was estimated by Gregory S. Paul in 2010 at twenty kilogrammes. Sinocalliopteryx is distinguished from Huaxiagnathus, as well as other compsognathids, by its relatively long hands in relation to its arms. The arms and hindlimbs were also longer overall than in other compsognathids, a feature possibly related to its size.
Sinocalliopteryx had an elongated head with a pointed snout, showing a convex upper profile. There were four teeth in the premaxilla which were small but exceptionally had denticles on their front edges. Only six, larger, teeth were present in the maxilla. The jugal was a strongly built element with a high-rising front branch that formed part of the lower front edge of the eye socket. The lower jaw lacked an opening in its outer side.
The vertebral column consisted of eleven cervical, twelve dorsal, five sacral and at least forty-nine caudal vertebrae. The point of the tail is missing. In the tail, the spines and chevrons strongly inclined to the back. The gastralia had very short lateral segments.
The arm had a short humerus and also the lower arm was short and elegant with an ulna showing only a weakly developed olecranon process on its back upper end. The hand was very elongated though, as long as the ulna and upper arm combined. The second metacarpal was expanded at the top at the side of the first metacarpal, making the entire metacarpus more compact. The second claw was elongated, as long as the thumb claw. The third metacarpal was rather short and carried a thin, third, finger.
In the pelvis there was a little notch in the front edge of the ilium. The relatively long shaft of the ischium curved downwards. The hindlimb was elongated, largely because of a long lower leg, having 90% of the length of the thighbone. The foot was also long, especially in the metatarsus.
Like many other theropods of the Yixian Formation, Sinocalliopteryx was preserved with “protofeathers,” simple filamentous integument (hairlike structures covering the skin), very similar to that found in Sinosauropteryx. The integument of Sinocalliopteryx differ in length across the body, with the longest protofeathers covering the hips, base of the tail, and back of the thighs. These longest protofeathers measured up to ten centimeters (4 in) in length. Interestingly, protofeathers were also found on the metatarsus (upper part of the foot). While these were not nearly as long or modern as the corresponding feathers of “four-winged” dinosaurs such as Microraptor and Pedopenna, they do indicate that foot-feathers or similar structures first arose in dinosaurs much more basal or “primitive” than previously known.
Discovery and Naming:
holotype
fossil specimen Sinocalliopteryx
Sinocalliopteryx was by its describers assigned to the Compsognathidae.
This cladogram shows the position of Sinocalliopteryx in the Compsognathidae according to a study by Cristiano dal Dasso e.a. in 2011:
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Compsognathidae |
| Genus: | †Sinocalliopteryx Ji et al., 2007 |
| Species: | †S. gigas |
The large size of Sinocalliopteryx compared to its relatives is also notable, and may indicate a trend towards large size among compsognathids (a group well known for their small size compared to other, giant theropod dinosaurs), similar to the trends towards larger sizes in other dinosaurian lineages.
The well-preserved skeleton of Sinocalliopteryx contained the partial leg of a Sinornithosaurus within the abdominal cavity, comprising a complete lower leg and foot with toes and claws in their natural, articulated position. While the leg part, about one foot long, is very large in relation to the abdominal cavity, it is clearly situated within it, lying between the ribs. Ji and colleagues in 2007 suggested that this could indicate it preyed upon the smaller, bird-like dinosaur. This discovery indicated that Sinocalliopteryx may have been an agile, active, “fierce” predator, especially since other compsognathids have been found with (presumably fast-moving) lizards and small mammals in their abdominal cavities.
In addition to the dromaeosaurid leg, four irregularly-shaped stones with a diameter between fifteen and twenty millimetres were found in the abdomen, with no similar stones present in any other portions of the skeleton or embedded in the surrounding rock. The authors interpreted these as gastroliths (gizzard stones) similar to those found with Nqwebasaurus and Baryonyx. Other theropods, such as Caudipteryx and a Mongolianornithomimid, were also found with gastoliths, though in those cases the stones were much more numerous and smaller in size. Ji and colleagues speculated that, since the later two dinosaurs were probably primarily herbivores, the number and size of gastroliths may correspond with diet; that is, herbivores ingested many small stones, while carnivores ingested only a few larger stones to aid in digestion.
Ref: Wikipedia Article
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