page_title: Kulindadromeus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Kulindadromeus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: クリンダ全身骨格
context_page_description: Kulindadromeus was a herbivorous dinosaur, a basal neornithischian from the Jurassic. The first Kulindadromeus fossil was found in Russia. Its feather-like integument is evidence for protofeathers being basal to Ornithischia and possibly Dinosauria as a whole, rather than just to Coelurosauria, as previously suspected.
context_section_description: Like other early neornithischians, Kulindadromeus was a bipedal runner, approximately 1.5 meters in length. It had a short head, short forelimbs, long hindlimbs and a long tail.
  The describers of Kulindadromeus established some distinguishing traits. The front ascending branch of the maxilla is much lower than the rear ascending branch. The fenestra maxillaris is larger than the antorbital fenestra, the usually more extensive skull opening in the snout side. The branch of the jugal towards the postorbital is notched. The postorbital has a rear branch that is vertically expanded. The rear blade of the ilium is slender in side view. The second, third and fourth metatarsals have deep grooves  for the tendons of the extensor muscles.
  Various specimens of Kulindadromeus show large parts of its integument. This includes imbricated rows of scales on top of its tail and also a covering of scales branching into feather-like structures, which until its discovery were thought to be exclusive to the Theropoda, of the saurischian line. The feather remains discovered are of three types, adding a level of complexity to the evolution of feathers in dinosaurs. The first type consists of hair-like filaments covering the trunk, neck and head. These are up to three centimetres long and resemble the stage 1 "dino-fuzz" already known from theropods like Sinosauropteryx. The second type is represented by groups of six or seven downwards-projecting filaments up to 1.5 centimetres long, originating from a base plate. These are present on the upper arm and thigh. They resemble the type 3 feathers of theropods. The base plates are ordered in a hexagonal pattern but do not touch each other. The third type is unique. It was found on the upper lower legs and consists of bundles of six or seven ribbon-like structures, up to two centimetres long. Each ribbon is constructed from about ten parallel filaments up to 0.1 millimetres wide.
  There are also three types of scales. Overlapping hexagonal scales, up to 3.5 millimetres in diameter, are present on the lower shins. Small round non-overlapping scales, less than one millimetre in cross-section, cover the hands, ankles and feet. The top of the tail is covered by five longitudinal rows of arched rectangular scales, measuring up to one by two centimetres. With these scales the trailing edge of each scale slightly overlaps the front edge of the scale behind it. In the middle, to the contrary, a small spur projects forward, covering the trailing edge of the preceding scale. This way an imbricated row is formed. The scale surface is smooth and the thickness is limited, less than 0.1 millimetres. The authors considered it unlikely these structures were ossified scutes or osteoderms. Towards the rear of the tail, the scales become smaller and more rounded; they then no longer overlap each other.
caption: Reconstructed skeleton
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "X-E1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2017:03:18 13:45:47", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 3, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, ... ]", "Image ExifOffset": "348", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1222", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4481", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/15", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:05:31 12:46:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:05:31 12:46:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "16/5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4", "EXIF ApertureValue": "57/10", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "127/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4256", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2340", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1096", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2092", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2092", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 55, 14/5, 4]", "EXIF LensMake": "FUJIFILM", "EXIF LensModel": "XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "24A54428"}