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. 2010 Jan 22;277(1679):211-7.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1178. Epub 2009 Aug 19.

A short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Jehol Group of China with implications for early dromaeosaurid evolution

Xiaoting Zheng  1 , Xing Xu, Hailu You, Qi Zhao, Zhiming Dong
Affiliations

A short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Jehol Group of China with implications for early dromaeosaurid evolution

Xiaoting Zheng et al. Proc Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Recent discoveries of basal dromaeosaurids from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang and Yixian formations of Liaoning, China, add significant new information about the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to avians. Here we report on a new dromaeosaurid, Tianyuraptor ostromi gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China, based on a nearly complete skeleton. Tianyuraptor possesses several features only seen in other Liaoning dromaeosaurids, although to a less developed degree, and it also exhibits features unknown in Laurasian dromaeosaurids but present in the Gondwanan dromaeosaurids and basal avialans, thus reducing the morphological gap between these groups. Tianyuraptor possesses a comparatively small furcula and proportionally short forelimbs. This lies in stark contrast to the possible capacity for flight in the microraptorines, which have proportionally long and robust forelimbs and large furculae. The presence of such striking differences between the Early Cretaceous Jehol dromaeosaurids reveals a great diversity in morphology, locomotion and ecology early in dromaeosaurid evolution.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Tianyuraptor ostromi holotype. (a) Photograph and (b) line drawing of the holotype skeleton. Abbreviations: sk, skull; cv, cervical vertebrae; dv, dorsal vertebrae; cav, caudal vertebrae; rsc, right scapula; lsc, left scapula; rco, right coracoid; rste, right sternal; fu, furcula; lh, left humerus; rh, right humerus; lu, left unla; ru, right unla; rr, right radius; lm, left manus; rm, right manus; li, left ilium; lis, light ischium; ris, right ischium; lp, left pubis; rp, right pubis; rf, right femur; rt, right tibia; rfi, right fibula; rpe, right pes. Scale bar, 5 cm
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Selected skeletal elements of Tianyuraptor ostromi holotype. (a) Skull and mandible in lateral view. (b) Two posterior dorsal vertebrae in lateral view. (c) Furcula, right sternal plate, and right coracoid. Arrow indicates the reduced furcula. (d) Left ilium in medial view. (e) Right ischium in medial view. Scale bar, 2 cm
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Simplified strict consensus of 30 most parsimonious trees (tree length = 1232; CI = 0.35; RI = 0.75) showing systematic position of Tianyuraptor ostromi recovered by a numerical phylogenetic analysis (see electronic supplementary material for more details).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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