Dinosaur fossils & 3D skeletons › Microraptor
Microraptor Fossil & 3D Skeleton
Microraptor zhaoianus
- Age
- Cretaceous, about 117.3 million years ago
- Found in
- China
- Length
- 0.7 m
- Height
- 0.3 m
- Estimated mass
- about 0.9 kg
- Group
- Close relative of Dromaeosaurus
How this 3D skeleton was made
This 3D model is a reconstruction. Most bone shapes (124 of 172) are borrowed from close relatives and fitted to this species' size and body proportions. The bone shapes are not the actual shapes of this species' fossils. 30 bones were shaped from photos or figures of this species' own fossils. 18 are estimated.
From this species 30Borrowed from relatives 124Estimated 18
Bones known from fossils
172 of 172 bones are known from fossils.
Known 172Filled in 0No record 0
Tap a bone on the 3D page to see where each bone shape came from.
Sources
- 3D Skeleton: Borrowed bone shapes from the template "Buitreraptor" (T12). The lengths of 10 body parts (head, neck, trunk, tail, humerus, forearm, hand, thigh, shin, and foot) were scaled individually to match actual measurements from the 3D skeleton model of Microraptor (specimen IVPP V13352) in Dempsey et al. (2025) Biol Rev doi:10.1111/brv.70026 (CC BY 4.0). Individual bone shapes belong to the template species, not this one. Source of template skeleton: 3D Skeleton: Created on this site. Bone shapes were traced from contours of bone photographs (lateral, anterior, etc.) of the holotype MPCA 245 and others, and scaled according to measurement tables and scale bars in the same paper (Gianechini et al. 2018 PeerJ, CC BY 4.0). Articulated vertebrae found together were segmented individually based on length ratios in the table. The skull is known for this species, but because papers illustrating its shape are not under open licenses, its shape and length Pose (2026-09-30): Bone orientations were directly read pixel-by-pixel from Figure 1H (full skeletal diagram of Gnathovorax, walking posture) of Pacheco et al. 2019 PeerJ (CC BY) (front-stepping leg: thigh 50° forward, shin 46° backward, metatarsus 24° forward; back-stepping leg: thigh 12° backward, shin 67° backward, metatarsus 16° forward; arm: humerus 40° backward, forearm 66° forward). Since only one arm was drawn in the figure, the far arm was swung slightly forward (estimated). Ground heights of both soles were aligned by adjusting the angle of the rear leg's shin (and metatarsus if needed). Lateral turning of the neck and bending of the tail are estimated (the source figure is only in side view). Rather than a walking diagram of this species itself, bone angles were taken from a relative that walked the same way. The neck was turned slightly sideways, and the tail was curved laterally (deflection amounts are estimated; the diagram was lateral-only).
- Known bones: Per-species bone table from Cashmore, Butler & Maidment (2021) (Zenodo 5029952, CC0). Because vertebrae are recorded as "at least one found" per section (neck, back, hips, and tail), bones within each section share the same color.
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