Sinosauropteryx

Sinosauropteryx was a small, feathered dinosaur that lived about 125 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period. It is important because it provided some of the earliest evidence that dinosaurs had feathers, similar to birds. This discovery helped scientists understand the link between dinosaurs and birds, showing that feathers evolved long before modern birds appeared. Sinosauropteryx was about the size of a turkey and had a tail, small forearms, and a beak-like mouth. Its well-preserved fossils, often with feather imprints, have been crucial for studying dinosaur evolution and the origins of bird flight.