Home

Chinese Dinosaurs

Chinese dinosaurs
and dragon bones

Feathered dinosaurs

Dinosaurs family tree

Dinosaur Factsheets

Huayangosaurus taibaii

Lufengosaurus huenei

Mamenchisaurus
jingyanensis

Mamenchisaurus youngi

Omeisaurus tianfuensis

Psittacosaurus sinensis

Shunosaurus lii

Tsintaosaurus
spinorhinus

Yangchuanosaurus
huopingensis

Yangchuanosaurus
shangyouensis

Pliosaur

Velociraptor mongoliensis

Caudipteryx zoui

Sinosauropteryx prima

Caudipteryx zoui

Pronounced 'caw-dip-te-rix joe-eye'

Artist: James Reece

Caudipteryx zoui was a dinosaur that lived about 125 million years ago and mostly ate plants. It was covered in short downy feathers and had longer feathers on its arms and tail.

Caudipteryx zoui had:

• a short snout and few teeth and was able to eat some animals as well as plants;
• downy feathers, covering most of its body, which probably helped it to keep warm;
• long wing and tail feathers which it probably used for display or brooding.

Caudipteryx zoui was named in 1998 and was the third feathered dinosaur found in Liaoning Province. Caudipteryx means 'tail feather' referring to the tail plume that the dinosaur may have fanned out for display.

Caudipteryx zoui was a small, bird-like theropod called an oviraptorisaurid, a group that occurred in Asia and Australia during the Cretaceous.

Copyright © Australian Museum, 2002