Scipionyx

dinosaur · Italy · Early Cretaceous · fossilized organs

Incredibly small theropod. Scipionyx was one of the smallest known theropod dinosaurs, making it roughly the size of a chicken or small turkey when fully grown.

Found in Italy. Scientists discovered this dinosaur's fossil in the Pietraroja Formation of Italy, which makes it one of the few dinosaurs ever found in that country.

Organs preserved in stone. What makes Scipionyx extra special is that its fossilized remains actually show traces of internal organs like the liver, intestines, and muscles, something extremely rare in dinosaur fossils.

113 million years old. Scipionyx lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, long after the giant sauropods roamed but millions of years before the famous dinosaurs like T-rex appeared.

Window into dinosaur bodies. Because we could see what was inside Scipionyx, scientists learned important details about how dinosaurs were built and how they might have moved and hunted.