Compsognathidae
| Compsognathids Temporal range: Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous, 151.5–108 Ma | |
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| Cast of a Compsognathus longipes specimen, Oxford University Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Tyrannoraptora |
| Family: | †Compsognathidae Cope, 1875 |
| Type species | |
| †Compsognathus longipes Wagner, 1861 | |
| Genera[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Compsognathidae is a family of small carnivorous dinosaurs, generally conservative in form, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Compsognathids lie at or near the origin of feathers—skin impressions are known from four genera, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, and Juravenator. While Juravenator, Sinosauropteryx, and Sinocalliopteryx show evidence of a covering of simple, primitive feathers, Juravenator and Compsognathus also show evidence of scales on the tail or hind legs.
The position of the Compsognathidae within the coelurosaur group is uncertain; some hold the family as the basalmost of the coelurosaurs,[4] while others as part of the Maniraptora.[5][6]
Taxonomic issues
In 2003, O.W.M. Rauhut redefined the family Coeluridae to include Coelurus (Late Jurassic, North America), Compsognathus (Late Jurassic, Europe), Sinosauropteryx (Early Cretaceous, Asia) and an unnamed Compsognathus-like form (Early Cretaceous, South America; this dinosaur has since been placed in the new genus Mirischia). However, this taxonomy has not been widely adopted. Sereno (2005) points out that Compsognathidae has priority of name, even if dinosaurs such as Coelurus or Ornitholestes belong in the same family as Compsognathus.
Timeline
References
- ↑ Senter P., Kirkland J.I., DeBlieux D.D., Madsen S., Toth N. (2012). "New Dromaeosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, and the Evolution of the Dromaeosaurid Tail". PLoS ONE 7 (5): e36790. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036790. PMC 3352940. PMID 22615813.
- ↑ J. N. Choiniere, J. M. Clark, C. A. Forster and X. Xu. 2010. A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(6):1773-1796
- 1 2 Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2011 Appendix.
- ↑ Holtz TR, Molnar RE, Currie PJ (2004). "Basal Tetanurae". In Weishampel DB, Dodson P, Osmólska H. The Dinosauria (2nd Edition). University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
- ↑ Gauthier JA. (1986) Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds. pp. 1-55 In Padian, K. (ed.) The Origin of Birds and the Evolution of Flight. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 8.
- ↑ Forster CA, Sampson SD, Chiappe LM & Krause DW (1998), The theropod ancestry of birds: new evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Science 279: 1915-1919