Samnium Scipio's Claw

Scipionyx samniticus

(dal Sasso & Signore, 1998)

    By the early Cretaceous, the remarkable dino-birds have spread out from their home in Asia and have colonized much of the world.  Some of these dinosaurs are the fierce maniraptors, like Velociraptor, Utahraptor, and Deinonychus.  One such maniraptor is Scipionyx samniticus.

    The home of Scipionyx is a tropical island that will one day be known as Italy.  This island is mostly sand and shrubs, with a few trees and surrounded by warm shallow lagoons, very similar to the islands where Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird lived. 

Other sites containing pertinent information:

•  Jeff Poling's Skippy the Dinosaur
• T. Mike Keesey's Scipionyx page
• Megalania's articles Scipionyx article
• Luis Ray's Scipionyx page
• Dinosauri Italiani's page (scroll down)

This painting is in the collection of the Lexington Children’s Museum in Lexington Kentuky

© Daniel Bensen 2000-2003
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