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Maniraptoriformes
Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow-tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrannosauroids, ornithomimosaurs, maniraptorans, and over the recent years, megaraptorans (Although position within the clade is unclear). Maniraptora includes birds, the only known dinosaur group alive today. In the past, Coelurosauria was used to refer to all small theropods, but this classification has since been amended. Most feathered dinosaurs discovered so far have been coelurosaurs. Philip J. Currie had considered it likely and probable that all coelurosaurs were feathered. However, several skin impressions found for some members of this group show pebbly, scaly skin, indicating that feathers did not completely replace scales in all taxa. Anatomy Bodyplan The studying of anatomical traits in coelurosaurs indicates that the last c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compsognathidae
Compsognathidae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Compsognathids were small carnivores, generally conservative in form, hailing from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. The bird-like features of these species, along with other dinosaurs such as ''Archaeopteryx'' inspired the idea for the connection between dinosaur reptiles and modern-day avian species. Compsognathid fossils preserve diverse integument — skin impressions are known from four genera commonly placed in the group, ''Compsognathus'', ''Sinosauropteryx'', ''Sinocalliopteryx'' and ''Juravenator''.Xu, Xing. "Palaeontology: Scales, feathers and dinosaurs." ''Nature'' 440.7082 (2006): 287-288. While the latter three show evidence of a covering of some of the earliest primitive feathers over much of the body, ''Juravenator'' and ''Compsognathus'' also show evidence of scales on the tail or hind legs. "Ubirajara jubatus", informally described in 2020, had elaborate integumentary structures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornitholestes
''Ornitholestes'' (meaning "bird robber") is a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic ( Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, middle Kimmeridgian age, about 154 million years agoTurner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A." Pp. 77–114 in Gillette, D.D. (ed.), ''Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah''. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1.) of Western Laurasia (the area that was to become North America). To date, ''Ornitholestes'' is known only from a single partial skeleton with a badly crushed skull found at the Bone Cabin Quarry near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, in 1900. It was described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1903. An incomplete hand was later attributed to ''Ornitholestes'', although it now appears to belong to '' Tanycolagreus''. The type (and only known) species is ''O. hermanni''. The specific name honors the American Museum of Natural History prepa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithomimosauria
Ornithomimosauria ("bird-mimic lizards") are theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to the modern-day ostrich. They were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia, Europe and North America), as well as possibly Africa. The group first appeared in the Early Cretaceous and persisted until the Late Cretaceous. Primitive members of the group include '' Nqwebasaurus'', '' Pelecanimimus'', '' Shenzhousaurus'', '' Hexing'' and '' Deinocheirus'', the arms of which reached 2.4 m (8 feet) in length. More advanced species, members of the family Ornithomimidae, include '' Gallimimus'', '' Struthiomimus'', and '' Ornithomimus''. Some paleontologists, like Paul Sereno, consider the enigmatic alvarezsaurids to be close relatives of the ornithomimosaurs and place them together in the superfamily Ornithomimoidea (see classification below). Description The skulls of ornithomimosaurs were small, with large eyes, above ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent beginning in the Jurassic Period. By the end of the Cretaceous Period, tyrannosauroids were the dominant large predators in the Northern Hemisphere, culminating in the gigantic ''Tyrannosaurus''. Fossils of tyrannosauroids have been recovered on what are now the continents of North America, Europe and Asia. If Megaraptora is part of Tyrannosauroidea, this would extend the distribution of the group to Australia and South America, and possible fragmentary remains of tyrannosauroids have also been reported from these continents. Tyrannosauroids were bipedal carnivores, as were most theropods, and were characterized by numerous skeletal features, especially of the skull and pelvis. Early in their existence, tyrannosauroids were small predat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaraptora
Megaraptora is a clade of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Its derived members, the Megaraptoridae are noted for their large hand claws and powerfully-built forelimbs, which are usually reduced in size in other large theropods. Although undoubtedly members of the clade Tetanurae, their relationships to others members of this group have been subject to dispute. Megaraptorans are incompletely known, and no complete megaraptoran skeleton has been found. However, they still possessed a number of unique features. Their forelimbs were large and strongly built, and the ulna bone had a unique shape in members of the family Megaraptoridae, a subset of megaraptorans which excludes '' Fukuiraptor'' and '' Phuwiangvenator''. The first two fingers were elongated, with massive curved claws, while the third finger was small. Megaraptoran skull material is very incomplete, but a juvenile ''Megaraptor'' described in 2014 preserved a portion of the snout, which was long and slender. Leg bones ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maniraptora
Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to ''Ornithomimus velox''. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae, Oviraptorosauria, and Therizinosauria. ''Ornitholestes'' and the Alvarezsauroidea are also often included. Together with the next closest sister group, the Ornithomimosauria, Maniraptora comprises the more inclusive clade Maniraptoriformes. Maniraptorans first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic Period (see ''Eshanosaurus''), and origin of birds#Phylogeny, survive today as living birds. Description Maniraptorans are characterized by long arms and three-fingered hands (though reduced or fused in some lineages), as well as a "half-moon shaped" (semilunar bone, semi-lunate) bone in the wrist (Carpal bones, carpus). In 2004, Tom Holtz and Halszka Osmólska pointed out six other maniraptoran characteristics relating to specific de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelurus
''Coelurus'' ( ) is a genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period (mid-late Kimmeridgian faunal stage, 155–152 million years ago). The name means "hollow tail", referring to its hollow tail vertebrae (Greek κοῖλος, ''koilos'' = hollow + οὐρά, ''oura'' = tail). Although its name is linked to one of the main divisions of theropods (Coelurosauria), it has historically been poorly understood, and sometimes confused with its better-known contemporary '' Ornitholestes''. Like many dinosaurs studied in the early years of paleontology, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, with several species being named and later transferred to other genera or abandoned. Only one species is currently recognized as valid: the type species, ''C. fragilis'', described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879. It is known from one partial skeleton found in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States. It was a small bipedal carnivore with elongate legs. History ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aratasaurus
''Aratasaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Romualdo Formation of Brazil. The genus contains a single species, ''A. museunacionali'', known from a partial right leg. ''Aratasaurus'' represents the only tetrapod fossil known from the lower levels of the Romualdo Formation. Discovery and naming The ''Aratasaurus'' holotype, MPSC R 2089, was discovered in 2008 in Mina Pedra Branca, a plaster mine representing outcrops of the lower Romualdo Formation near Santana do Cariri in Ceará state of northeastern Brazil. The specimen consists of a partial articulated right leg, including the distal end of the femur, the proximal end of the tibia, part of metatarsals I–IV, several phalanges, and three pedal unguals. The specimen represents only part of the preserved individual, but the remainder was broken and lost during mining activity. After its discovery, the fossil was taken to the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Museum o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronaldoraptor
This list of informally named dinosaurs is a listing of dinosaurs (excluding Aves; birds and their extinct relatives) that have never been given formally published scientific names. This list only includes names that were not properly published (" unavailable names") and have not since been published under a valid name (see list of dinosaur genera for valid names). The following types of names are present on this list: * ''Nomen nudum'', Latin for "naked name": A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. ''Nomina nuda'' (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be. * '' Nomen manuscriptum'', Latin for "manuscript name": A name that appears in manuscript but was not formally published. A ''nomen manuscriptum'' is equivalent to a ''nomen nudum'' for everything except the method of publication, and description. * '' Nomen e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juravenator
''Juravenator'' is a genus of small (75 cm long) coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur (although a 2020 study proposed it to be a hatchling megalosauroid), which lived about 151 or 152 million years ago in the area that would someday become the top of the Franconian Jura of Germany ( Torleite Formation). It is known from a single, juvenile specimen. Description ''Juravenator'' was a small bipedal predator. The holotype of ''Juravenator'' represents a juvenile individual, about seventy-five centimetres in length. In 2006 and 2010 Göhlich established some diagnostic traits. The four teeth of the premaxilla in the front of the snout had serrations on the upper third of the back edge of the tooth crown. Between the tooth row of the premaxilla and that of the maxilla there was no hiatus. The maxillary teeth were few in number, eight with the holotype. The depression or ''fossa'' for the large skull opening, the ''fenestra antorbitalis'', was long and extended far to the front. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinosauropteryx
''Sinosauropteryx'' (meaning "Chinese reptilian wing") is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Described in 1996, it was the first dinosaur taxon outside of Avialae (birds and their immediate relatives) to be found with evidence of feathers. It was covered with a coat of very simple filament-like feathers. Structures that indicate the colour pattern have also been preserved in some of its feathers, which show that ''Sinosauropteryx'' had a countershading pattern in its body with a banded tail. The reddish brown colouration previously inferred for ''Sinosauropteryx'' is based on the melanosomes preserved in the specimen of a separate genus, '' Huadanosaurus''. Some contention has arisen with an alternative interpretation of the filamentous impression as remains of collagen fibres, but this has not been widely accepted. ''Sinosauropteryx'' was a small theropod with an unusually long tail and short arms. The longest known specimen reaches up to in length, with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nqwebasaurus
''Nqwebasaurus'' is a Basal (phylogenetics), basal Coelurosauria, coelurosaur and the basal-most member of the coelurosaurian clade Ornithomimosauria from the Early Cretaceous of South Africa. The name ''Nqwebasaurus'' is derived from the Xhosa language, Xhosa word ''Nqweba'' which is the local name for the Kirkwood, South Africa, Kirkwood district, and ''thwazi'' is ancient Xhosa for "fast runner". Currently it is the oldest coelurosaur in Africa and shows that basal coelurosaurian dinosaurs inhabited Gondwana 50 million years earlier than previously thought. The type specimen of ''Nqwebasaurus'' was discovered by William J. de Klerk who is affiliated with the Albany Museum, South Africa, Albany Museum in Grahamstown. It is the only fossil of its species found to date and was found in the Kirkwood Formation of the Uitenhage Group. ''Nqwebasaurus'' has the unofficial nickname "Kirky", due to being found in the Kirkwood Formation, Kirkwood. History of discovery ''Nqwebasaurus'' w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
