Compsognathidae

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 latter three show evidence of a covering of some of the earliest primitive feathers over much of the body, Juravenator and Compsognathus also show evidence of scales on the tail or hind legs. "Ubirajara jubatus", informally described in 2020, had elaborate integumentary structures on its back and shoulders superficially similar to the display feathers of a standardwing bird-of-paradise, and unlike any other non-avian dinosaur currently described.

Compsognathidae

Jaime A. Headden ( User:Qilong ) · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
compsognathidPBDB
Sits inside
CoelurosauriaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 51 million years on record.

The record covers at least 152.21 Mya to 100.5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 157.9 Mya to 89.8 Mya.

Late Jurassic — about 8 of 18 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 9 of 18 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 1 of 18 occurrencesLate Cretaceous159–157 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences157–155 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences155–152 Mya — about 2 occurrences152–150 Mya — about 2 occurrences150–147 Mya — about 2 occurrences147–145 Mya — about 1 occurrence145–143 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences133–131 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences131–129 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences129–126 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences126–124 Mya — about 2 occurrences124–121 Mya — about 2 occurrences121–119 Mya — about 2 occurrences114–112 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences112–110 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences103–100 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences100–98 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences98–96 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences96–93 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences93–91 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences91–88 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences152.21 Mya100.5 Mya159 Mya88 Mya

18 occurrences of Compsognathidae on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

18 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

8 formations

Morrison — 42.02°N, 106.05°WMorrison — 38.58°N, 108.40°WMorrison — 41.89°N, 106.00°WMorrison — 44.05°N, 107.46°WYixian — 42.02°N, 125.06°EYixian — 41.60°N, 120.84°EYixian — 41.71°N, 120.71°EYixian — 41.60°N, 120.87°ESao Khua — 16.70°N, 102.25°EAlcobaça — 39.70°N, 8.80°WPainten — 49.02°N, 11.98°EBajo Barreal — 44.77°S, 69.18°WHuajiying — 41.20°N, 116.65°EWessex — 50.62°N, 1.38°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Compsognathidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Compsognathidae and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Compsognathidae and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

329 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 18 sites for Compsognathidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

18 references

Each of the 18 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 6 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Compsognathidae

Credit
Jaime A. Headden ( User:Qilong )
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Compsognathidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCoelurosauria through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Cope 1871)