Averostra
| Averostrans Temporal range: Early Jurassic–Holocene, 199–0Ma Possible Late Triassic record | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Juvenile skeleton of Ceratosaurus, Dinosaur Discovery Museum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Neotheropoda |
| Clade: | Averostra Paul, 2002 |
| Subgroups | |
Averostra, or "bird snouts", is a clade that includes most theropod dinosaurs that have a promaxillary fenestra (fenestra promaxillaris), an extra opening in the front outer side of the maxilla, the bone that makes up the upper jaw.
Definition
Averostra was named by Gregory S. Paul in 2002 as an apomorphy-based clade defined as the group including the Dromaeosauridae and Avepoda with (an ancestor with) a promaxillary fenestra.[1] It was later re-defined by Martin Ezcurra and Gilles Cuny in 2007 as a node-based clade containing Ceratosaurus nasicornis, Allosaurus fragilis, their last common ancestor and all its descendants.[2]
References
- ↑ Paul, 2002. Dinosaurs of the Air. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. 460 pp.
- ↑ Ezcurra M.D. and Cuny, G., 2007. The coelophysoid Lophostropheus airelensis, gen. nov.: A review of the systematics of "Liliensternus" airelensis from the Triassic-Jurassic outcrops of Normandy (France). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27(1), 73-86