Xu Xing described Sinornithosaurus and performed a phylogenetic analysis which demonstrated that it is basal, or primitive, among the dromaeosaurs. He has also demonstrated that features of the skull and shoulder are very similar to Archaeopteryx and other Avialae. Together these two facts demonstrate that the earliest dromaeosaurs were more like birds than the later dromaeosaurs were. Sinornithosaurus was among the smallest dromaeosaurids, with a length of about 90 centimetres (3.0 ft). In 2010, Gregory S. Paul gave higher estimations of 1.2 metres and three kilogrammes.