Caudipteryx dongi

a feathered dinosaur from the early Cretaceous of China, about the size of a turkey. It may have been a theropod-like bird, or a bird-like theropod, or maybe both at the same time....

For those interested in palaeontology, the Palaeozoological Museum Of China is absolutely outstanding. The museum is on three floors, the lower one for dinosaurs including several fully-mounted skeletons (the displays are a mix of real fossils and casts) and fossil fish, the next floor for more dinosaurs and birds, and the third for mammals. Really fascinating fossils here, although unfortunately all the signage is in Chinese apart for the scientific names.

Visited September 2013.

Current thinking is that as a member of the Oviraptorosauria, this taxon was outside the clade containing birds and their closest non-avian relatives (Paraves) - although still members of the larger group Maniraptora.