Hexing Facts
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Height | 1.2m |
| Length | 3m |
| Weight | 25 kg |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Early Cretaceous |
| Type | Theropod |
| Location | China |

| Diet | Omnivore |
| Height | 1.2m |
| Length | 3m |
| Weight | 25 kg |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Early Cretaceous |
| Type | Theropod |
| Location | China |
Hexing was a fascinating early theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 126 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now northeastern China. This relatively small dinosaur represents one of the earliest known ornithomimosaurs, providing crucial insights into the evolution of these ostrich-like dinosaurs.
Standing about 1.2 metres tall at the hip and measuring roughly 3 metres in length, Hexing was a lightly built, bipedal predator with long, powerful legs adapted for swift movement across the prehistoric landscape. Its skeletal structure shows the characteristic features that would later become more pronounced in advanced ornithomimosaurs, including elongated limbs and a streamlined body shape.
As an early ornithomimosaur, Hexing likely had an omnivorous diet, feeding on a variety of small animals, insects, plants, and possibly eggs. Its primitive position in the ornithomimosaur family tree suggests it retained more generalised feeding adaptations compared to its later, more specialised relatives who developed toothless beaks.
The discovery of Hexing in the famous Jehol Group formations of China, known for their exceptional fossil preservation, has helped palaeontologists better understand the early evolution and diversification of ornithomimosaurian theropods during the Cretaceous period.
Hexing possessed the characteristic long legs and lightweight build typical of early ornithomimosaurs, but retained more primitive features than its later relatives. Its skeletal proportions show the beginning of the streamlined body plan that would become fully developed in later ostrich-like dinosaurs.
Hexing was likely a swift runner, using its long legs to escape predators and pursue prey across the Early Cretaceous landscapes of China. As an omnivore, it probably spent time both hunting small animals and foraging for plant material, eggs, and insects.
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Saurischia |
| Order | Avetheropoda |
| Genus | Hexing |
Hexing was first described by Qiu et al. in 2019. The original fossils were discovered at Jehol Group, Liaoning Province, northeastern China.