Protarchaeopteryx
| Protarchaeopteryx Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
| Holotype, Geological Museum of China | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | †Oviraptorosauria |
| Genus: | †Protarchaeopteryx Ji & Ji, 1997 |
| Species: | †P. robusta |
| Binomial name | |
| †Protarchaeopteryx robusta Ji & Ji, 1997 | |
Protarchaeopteryx (meaning "before Archaeopteryx" although it is from the Cretaceous and Archaeopteryx is from the Jurassic) is a genus of turkey-sized feathered theropod dinosaur from China. Known from the Jianshangou bed of the Yixian Formation, it lived during the early Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 124.6 million years ago. It was probably a herbivore or omnivore, although its hands were very similar to those of small carnivorous dinosaurs. It appears to be one of the most basal members of the Oviraptorosauria, closely related to Incisivosaurus, or a taxon slightly less closely related to birds than oviraptorosaurs were.