Scipionyx is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of theropod dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 from the Early Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, around 113 million years ago. There has been only one skeleton discovered, which is notable for the preservation of soft tissue and internal organs. It is the fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 of a juvenile only half a metre (twenty inches) long. Adult size is estimated to be about two metres (6.5 feet).
Scipionyx was discovered in the spring of 1981 by Giovanni Todesco, an amateur paleontologist

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

, in the Le Cavere quarry at the edge of the village of Pietraroja

Pietraroja

Pietraroja is a mountain comune , rich of water sources, woods and healthy air, inthe province of Benevento in Campania, southern Italy. It is c. 50 km by car from Benevento, in direction north-west, 83 km from Naples in direction north-east and c...

, approximately seventy kilometers northeast of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

.