A new feathered maniraptoran dinosaur fossil that fills a morphological gap in avian origin |
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Authors: | Xing Xu Qi Zhao Mark Norell Corwin Sullivan David Hone Gregory Erickson XiaoLin Wang FengLu Han Yu Guo |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China;(2) American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024, USA;(3) Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1100, USA;(4) Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China |
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Abstract: | Recent fossil discoveries have substantially reduced the morphological gap between non-avian and avian dinosaurs, yet avians
including Archaeopteryx differ from non-avian theropods in their limb proportions. In particular, avians have proportionally longer and more robust
forelimbs that are capable of supporting a large aerodynamic surface. Here we report on a new maniraptoran dinosaur, Anchiornis huxleyi gen. et sp. nov., based on a specimen collected from lacustrine deposits of uncertain age in western Liaoning, China. With
an estimated mass of 110 grams, Anchiornis is the smallest known non-avian theropod dinosaur. It exhibits some wrist features indicative of high mobility, presaging
the wing-folding mechanisms seen in more derived birds and suggesting rapid evolution of the carpus. Otherwise, Anchiornis is intermediate in general morphology between non-avian and avian dinosaurs, particularly with regard to relative forelimb
length and thickness, and represents a transitional step toward the avian condition. In contrast with some recent comprehensive
phylogenetic analyses, our phylogenetic analysis incorporates subtle morphological variations and recovers a conventional
result supporting the monophyly of Avialae.
Supported by Hundred Talents Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
Nos. 40125006, 40472018), and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB806400) |
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Keywords: | Early Cretaceous maniraptoran theropod coelurosaurian phylogeny wrist evolution avian origin |
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