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Xiaotingia was a small, anchiornithid theropod from the Late Jurassic of China. While not a flier, the small size (0.65 m / 2 foot long), winged anchiornithids promise to be informative about where and when experiments with flight did (or did not) occur among paravian theropods…just as soon as we can nail down their phylogenetic position. Sometimes recovered as troodontids, sometimes closer to Archaeopteryx, and sometimes below the split between troodontids, dromaeosaurs and avialans, this fascinating clade of small, winged dinosaurs promises to help answer many questions, once we settle this important question.
