Sinosauropteryx
Three specimens have been assigned to "Sinosauropteryx prima": the holotype GMV 2123 (and its counter slab [opposite face], NIGP 127586), NIGP 127587, and D 2141. Another specimen, IVPP V14202, was assigned to the genus but not to the only species by Zhang and colleagues. The assignment of an additional larger specimen to "S. prima", GMV 2124, was later found to be in error. All of the fossils were found in the Jianshangou or Dawangzhangzi Beds of the Yixian Formation in the Beipiao and Lingyuan regions of Liaoning, China. These fossil beds have been dated to 124.6–122 million years ago, during the early Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous.
Sinocalliopteryx
Like many other theropods of the Yixian Formation, "Sinocalliopteryx" was preserved with "protofeathers," simple filamentous integument (hairlike structures covering the skin), very similar to that found in "Sinosauropteryx". The integument of "Sinocalliopteryx" differ in length across the body, with the longest protofeathers covering the hips, base of the tail, and back of the thighs. These longest protofeathers measured up to ten centimeters (4 in) in length. Protofeathers were also found on the metatarsus (upper part of the foot). While these were not nearly as long or modern as the corresponding feathers of "four-winged" dinosaurs such as "Microraptor" and "Pedopenna", they do indicate that foot-feathers or similar structures first arose in dinosaurs much more basal or "primitive" than previously known.