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Coelurosauria
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] |
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] |
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] |
Vayuraptor
''Vayuraptor'' (meaning "wind thief") is a genus of basal coelurosaurian (possibly megaraptoran) theropod dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Sao Khua Formation of Thailand. The genus contains a single species, ''V. nongbualamphuensis'', known from a partial skeleton. Discovery The holotype and referred specimens of ''Vayuraptor'' (stored in the Sirindhorn Museum under the Department of Mineral Resources) were discovered in 1988 by Paladej Srisuk at Phu Wat Site A1, Nong Bua Lamphu Province, Thailand. The generic name means "wind thief", named after the Hindu god of wind Vayu and the Latin word ''raptor'', which means thief. This name was chosen because ''Vayuraptor'' possesses a long and gracile , which suggests it was very fast and agile. The specific name is named after the province ''Vayuraptor'' was found in ( Nong Bua Lamphu Province). The holotype of ''Vayuraptor'' (SM-NB A1-2) is a left tibia with an associated and , which are fused together, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gasosaurus
''Gasosaurus'' () is a genus of tetanuran Theropoda, theropod that lived approximately 171.6 to 161.2 million years ago during the middle of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. The name "''Gasosaurus''" is derived from the English "''gasoline''" and the Ancient Greek, Greek () ("lizard / generic reptile"). Only one species is currently recognised, ''G. constructus'', from which the specific name honours the gasoline company that found the Dashanpu fossil quarry in Sichuan Province, China, now named as the Lower Shaximiao Formation. Discovery and naming The first and to date only fossils, albeit postcranial (missing the skull), were recovered in 1985 during the construction of a gas facility, which explains the dinosaur's unusual name. It consists of laterally compressed teeth, 4 cervical, 7 dorsal, 5 sacral, and 7 caudal vertebrae, both humeri, and highly abraded and reconstructed pelvic and hind limb material that includes the left ilium, left ischium, left pubis, left f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aniksosaurus
''Aniksosaurus'' (meaning "spring lizard", from Modern Greek Άνοιξη, "Spring", referring to the fact it was found on 21 September 1995, the onset of Spring on the Southern Hemisphere) is a genus of avetheropod dinosaur from what is now Chubut Province, Argentina. It lived during the Cenomanian to Turonian of the Cretaceous period (geology), period, between 96-91 million years ago. The type species, ''Aniksosaurus darwini'', was formally described from the Bajo Barreal Formation of the Golfo San Jorge Basin by Rubén Dario Martínez and Fernando Emilio Novas in 2006;Martínez, R.D., and Novas, F.E. (2006)"Aniksosaurus darwini gen. et sp. nov., a new coelurosaurian theropod from the early Late Cretaceous of central Patagonia, Argentina."Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, n.s. 8(2): 243-259. the name was first coined in 1995 and reported in the literature in 1997. The specific epithet honors Charles Darwin who visited Patagonia in 1832/1833 during the second voya ... [...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] |
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] |
Chilantaisaurus
''Chilantaisaurus'' (" lizard") is a genus of large theropod dinosaur, possibly a neovenatorid or a primitive coelurosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation of China (Turonian age, about 92 million years ago). The type species, ''C. tashuikouensis'', was described by Hu in 1964. Description ''Chilantaisaurus'' was a large theropod, measuring long and weighing . While Brusatte ''et al.'' (2010) estimated that ''Chilantaisaurus'' might have weighed about based on femur length similar to that of ''Tyrannosaurus'', Persons ''et al.'' (2020) argued that greater femoral circumference indicates the greater capacity to withstand greater locomotor loads, not greater body mass. Classification Hu considered ''Chilantaisaurus'' to be a carnosaur related to ''Allosaurus'', though some subsequent studies suggested that it may be a Spinosauroidea, spinosauroid, possibly a primitive member of the spinosaurid family (Sereno, 1998; Chure, 2000; Rauhut, 2001) because it had large cla ... [...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] |
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] |
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] |
Nuthetes
''Nuthetes'' is the name given to a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur, either a dromaeosaurid or a tyrannosauroid, known only from fossil teeth and jaw fragments found in rocks of the middle Berriasian (Early Cretaceous) age in the Cherty Freshwater Member of the Lulworth Formation in England and also the Angeac-Charente bonebed in France. If it was a dromaeosaurid, ''Nuthetes'' would have been a small predator. Discovery and naming The holotype, DORCM G 913, was collected by Charles Willcox, an amateur paleontologist living at Swanage, from the Feather Quarry near Durlston Bay in a marine deposition of Cherty Freshwater Member of the Lulworth Formation, dating from the middle Berriasian. It consists of an about three inch long left dentary fragment with nine teeth. The holotype was once thought to be lost but was rediscovered during the 1970s in the Dorset County Museum. Later several other teeth and specimen BMNH 48207, another dentary fragment from a somewhat smal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
