Small dinosaurs in a world of giants

Explore the collection

• Xiaotingia: a feathered dinosaur on a disputed branch

  Explore the Xiaotingia zhengi holotype, its feather impressions and the changing phylogenetic analyses that leave its exact place among early paravians debated.

• Aviatyrannis

  Aviatyrannis jurassica from Portugal is known from fragmentary pelvic bones and teeth. Explore the Guimarota fossils, age, size and uncertain classification.

• Megapnosaurus

  Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis is an Early Jurassic theropod from southern Africa. Learn why Syntarsus was renamed, what the skeletons preserve and why its genus remains debated.

• Anzu: the oviraptorosaur of Hell Creek

  Three partial Anzu wyliei skeletons from the Hell Creek Formation reveal a large North American caenagnathid with a crest, toothless beak and unresolved diet.

• Aorun: a very young Jurassic theropod from China

  A single juvenile skeleton from the Shishugou Formation anchors Aorun zhaoi. Its age, small body and uncertain place among early coelurosaurs limit what can be said about adults.

• Corythoraptor: a crested oviraptorid with a changing taxonomic status

  Learn what the nearly complete Corythoraptor skeleton shows about its crest, growth, feathers and the 2026 proposal linking it to Huanansaurus.

• Falcarius: an early therizinosaur from Utah

  Falcarius utahensis is an early therizinosaur from Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation. Its large bonebed and newly described skull material reveal a distinctive mosaic of anatomy and variation.

• Huaxiagnathus: a large compsognathid with an unusually long arm

  Huaxiagnathus orientalis is based on a nearly complete skeleton from Liaoning. Its unusually long forelimb and preserved jaws help distinguish it from smaller compsognathids, while the damaged second specimen and its diet remain uncertain.

• Jianchangosaurus: a young therizinosaur with an unusual dentition

  A nearly complete juvenile skeleton from the Yixian Formation preserves an unusual mix of therizinosaur and ornithischian-like dental features in Jianchangosaurus.

• Mahakala: a tiny dromaeosaur with a nearly complete skeleton

  One Mongolian skeleton shows that Mahakala was a very small paravian, probably near adult size. Its anatomy informs body-size evolution; it does not prove a direct route to birds or a semi-aquatic lifestyle.

• Microvenator: the small theropod whose skull is missing

  AMNH 3041 is an incomplete juvenile skeleton from Montana. Its anatomy supports an early oviraptorosaur relationship, but adult size, skull form and exact placement remain uncertain.

• Nemegtomaia: the Mongolian oviraptorid and its nesting fossils

  Discover Nemegtomaia barsboldi, an oviraptorid from Mongolia named from Nemegt fossils and later represented by specimens associated with eggs.

• Scipionyx: a juvenile dinosaur with preserved soft tissues

  Scipionyx is known from one exceptionally preserved juvenile dinosaur fossil with mineralised soft tissues and gut contents. See what the specimen shows and what remains uncertain.

• Sinornithomimus: what a juvenile bonebed can reveal

  A bonebed of Sinornithomimus dongi preserves more than twenty mostly immature ornithomimids. Its sediments and age profile support a social-group interpretation, while the cause of the gathering remains open to testing.

• Wulong: a young dinosaur whose feathers came before adulthood

  The articulated Wulong bohaiensis specimen preserves multiple feather types and bone histology indicating a young, still-growing animal. It documents plumage early in life but does not establish that the juvenile could fly.

• Enigmacursor: a small dinosaur with a complicated history

  Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae is a small-bodied ornithischian named in 2025 from a partial skeleton collected in Colorado. Its growth stage and relationship to other early ornithischians remain under study.

• Mononykus

  Mononykus explained through its Nemegt skeleton, powerful one-fingered hands, long legs, uncertain diet and changing interpretation as a bird or dinosaur.

• Shuvuuia

  Shuvuuia explained through its Mongolian skulls and skeletons, one dominant hand claw, disputed body fibres, likely low-light vision and uncertain diet.

• Agilisaurus: a small ornithischian from Jurassic China

  Discover Agilisaurus through its nearly complete Zigong skeleton, anatomy, uncertain classification and the history of its former second species.

• Beipiaosaurus: an early therizinosaur in transition

  Learn how Beipiaosaurus links early therizinosaurs with preserved body filaments, an immature skeleton and evidence for a plant-rich diet.

• Caudipteryx: a feathered dinosaur that did not fly

  Explore Caudipteryx through its nearly complete skeletons, tail fan, gastroliths, two named species and the evidence against flight.

• Chirostenotes: a dinosaur assembled from separated clues

  Chirostenotes pergracilis began as a fossil hand from Alberta. Later finds clarified its oviraptorosaur identity, while several famous bones once assigned to it belong elsewhere or remain uncertain.

• Citipati: an oviraptorid preserved above its eggs

  Citipati osmolskae is known from well-preserved Mongolian skeletons, including adults over egg clutches. The fossils reveal anatomy and nesting posture, while diet and the details of incubation remain uncertain.

• Hagryphus: what one articulated hand can tell us

  Hagryphus giganteus is based on an articulated hand and fragmentary foot bones from Utah’s Kaiparowits Formation. Its striking name and estimated size are less certain than the anatomy of the preserved limbs.

• Harpymimus: teeth at the base of the ostrich-dinosaur story

  Harpymimus okladnikovi is known from a compressed skeleton found at Khuren Dukh. Its small lower-jaw teeth and toothless upper jaw distinguish the specimen, while diet and exact family relationships remain open questions.

• Heyuannia: what eggs can, and cannot, tell us

  Heyuannia huangi is a southern Chinese oviraptorid whose fossils connect skeletal anatomy with research on eggs, nest structure and reproductive behaviour. Each connection has a different level of certainty.

• Khaan: two skeletons, no proven ‘Romeo and Juliet’

  Khaan mckennai is known from exceptionally informative oviraptorid skeletons collected at Ukhaa Tolgod. Detailed osteology distinguishes preserved anatomy from the popular but unproven claim that its paired specimens were a male and female.

• Coelophysis and Compsognathus: similar silhouettes, different worlds

  Compare Coelophysis and Compsognathus through their fossils, ages, size and classification, and see why two small theropods are not the same kind of dinosaur.

• Avimimus: a birdlike but non-avian dinosaur

  Avimimus from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia: fused bones, two species, bonebeds, likely feathers and the limits of diet and behaviour claims.

• Eoraptor: an early dinosaur from Argentina

  Eoraptor lunensis is known from a nearly complete but immature skeleton in Argentina’s Ischigualasto Formation. Its teeth and changing phylogenetic placement make it central to debates about early dinosaur evolution.

• Mei long: two dinosaurs preserved in a resting pose

  Mei long explained through two articulated resting fossils, their growth, troodontid anatomy and what a fossil posture can and cannot show about sleep.

• Sinosauropteryx: a small theropod with simple feathers

  Sinosauropteryx explained through its Jehol fossils, filamentous covering, colour pattern, diet, classification and the disputed species named in 2025.

• Archaeopteryx

  A detailed Archaeopteryx guide covering Bavarian fossils, feathers, 45–55 cm size, limited powered flight, diet, species debate and its place among avialans.

• Anchiornis: a feathered paravian near the origin of birds

  Anchiornis explained through hundreds of feathered Jurassic fossils, paravian relationships, stomach residues, colour evidence and the debate over flight.

• Microraptor

  Microraptor explained through feathered fossils, four aerodynamic surfaces, iridescent colour evidence, stomach contents and the flight debate.

• Oryctodromeus and the fossil evidence for dinosaur burrows

  A fossil burrow associated with an adult and two young Oryctodromeus provides unusually direct evidence of burrowing behavior in a dinosaur.

• Small Cretaceous dinosaurs beyond the giants

  Alvarezsaurids, small ceratopsians and other Cretaceous dinosaurs occupied varied niches, though fragile fossils make their diversity hard to measure.

• A juvenile dinosaur or a different species?

  How palaeontologists test whether a small dinosaur fossil is a juvenile, a distinct species or an incomplete record that cannot yet decide the question.

• Small dinosaurs and predator avoidance: what fossils show

  Small size may have shaped how dinosaurs interacted with predators, but fossils rarely preserve escape behavior. Separate direct traces from plausible strategies.

• Chicken-sized dinosaurs and the diversity of small species

  “Chicken-sized” is a loose comparison, not a dinosaur group. Explore small-bodied species, size estimates and why their fossils are often incomplete.

• Were some dinosaurs active at night?

  Could some dinosaurs have been active at night? See what eye fossils suggest, how activity is inferred, and where the evidence stops.

• Island dwarfism in dinosaurs: Europasaurus and the Hațeg fauna

  Europasaurus and the Hațeg dinosaurs are often cited in discussions of island dwarfism. Their fossils show why island size evolution needs careful tests.

• Small body size in Mesozoic ecosystems

  Small size brought some ecological options and real trade-offs. Fossils show varied small dinosaurs and mammals, but they do not prove that being small guaranteed survival.

• Pterosaurs and the conquest of the air

  How pterosaurs evolved powered flight, controlled membrane wings, launched from four limbs, diversified their diets and reached giant size.

• The smallest non-avian dinosaurs

  Meet tiny dinosaur candidates including Hesperonychus, Microraptor and Fruitadens, and see why fossils do not identify one definitive smallest species.

• Adasaurus: a Gobi dromaeosaurid with an unusual foot

  Adasaurus explained through its two incomplete Nemegt skeletons, unusual second-toe claw, size, diet, feathers and uncertain position among dromaeosaurids.

• Cynodonts

  Cynodonts from Permian origins to mammal relatives: differentiated teeth, the secondary palate, jaw and ear changes, fossils and limits on ancestry claims.

• Thrinaxodon: a small cynodont in an Early Triassic burrow

  Thrinaxodon explained through its South African and Antarctic fossils, burrow casts, Broomistega association, anatomy and limits of its mammal-like reconstruction.

• Hylonomus

  Hylonomus lyelli from the Carboniferous Joggins cliffs: its holotype, hollow-tree burial, anatomy, early amniote relationships and the limits of its fossil record.

• The smallest carnivorous dinosaurs

  Compare Anchiornis, Microraptor, Compsognathus, Mei and Scipionyx, and learn why age, tail length and mass estimates complicate the record.

• Bavarisaurus

  Bavarisaurus macrodactylus from Late Jurassic Bavaria: its skull and skeleton, long digits, uncertain body proportions and the lizard once misidentified in a Compsognathus gut-content specimen.

• Staurikosaurus: an early dinosaur known from one skeleton

  Staurikosaurus pricei from Late Triassic Brazil: the MCZ 1669 holotype, preserved bones, herrerasaurid relationships, size estimates and evidence limits.

• Eryops: a powerful predator of the Permian

  Eryops is known from many skulls and limb bones, but not every reconstruction is one complete skeleton. Its strong limbs supported the body without proving fast running.

• Cacops: an armoured temnospondyl of the Permian

  Cacops was a compact Early Permian dissorophid with a reinforced back and limbs suited to supporting it on land. Its hearing, prey and life cycle remain partly uncertain.

• Westlothiana: the small tetrapod called Lizzie

  Westlothiana from Carboniferous Scotland is known from a nearly complete skeleton, but its position just inside or outside Amniota remains debated.

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