Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

This was the first dinosaur to be found with hair-like protofeathers visible on the bones. It had the remains of a mammal in its gut, and possibly eggs in its oviduct. It was about 1.2 m long and apparently hunted small mammals, among others, probably around the Liaoning Lake, possibly at night, because it has been assumed that the mammals would have been nocturnal. Its body was covered with downy, hair-like feathers that were the forerunners of true feathers that covered later dinosaurs and birds. The proportions of its skull and limb bones are all that disguised it from other Compsognathids. The faint outline of coloured bars was present along the tail.

Links

• Venomous Dinosaur Discovered--Shocked Prey Like Snake?
• Bird-like dinosaur used venom to subdue prey
• Peter Schouten

Sources & Further reading

• Feathered Dinosaurs: the Origin of Birds, John Long and Peter Schuten, CSIRO Publishing
• Cosmos magazine, Feb/Mar 2010