Eosinopteryx brevipenna

Reconstruction of the newly described feathered non-avian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China, Eosinopteryx brevipenna. Eosinopteyx is small, only 30 cm long, troodontid theropod similar to Anchiornis and Xiaotingia. Unlike those taxa, Eosinopteryx lacks leg-wings typical for most of the known primitive troodontids and dromaeosaurs, and also shows no signs of tail fan. These characteristics are interpreted as adaptation for cursorial life-style.

This drawing is also my fourth entry for “All Your Yesterdays” contest. The speculative concept I’m exploring here is the presence of albinism in some non-avian dinosaurs. It’s true that this is relatively rare condition in modern archosaurs (birds in general, I don’t know for albino crocodilians), and most albino individuals rarely survive for long in nature, but it still is possibility. In some cases, as with pigeons, in city environments where only few or no natural predators are present, albino animals are common sight. It’s typical for albino birds to face aggressive behavior from the normally colored birds of the same species.

Here, two “normal” individuals of Eosinopteryx are picking on their albino relative, due to its different look in comparison to the rest of their population.

References:

Godefroit, P., H. Demuynck, G. Dyke, D. Hu, F. Escuillie, P. Claeys. 2013. Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China.- Nature Communications 4: 1394.

Wikipedia - [link]