A juvenile coelurosaurian theropod from China indicates arboreal habits
Abstract
Here we report an unequivocal arboreal coelurosaur, Epidendrosaurus ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov. This juvenile coelurosaur's third manual digit is extremely elongated, distinctively different from that of other known dinosaurs and birds. It represents certainly a type of adaptation previously unreported from the Mesozoic although the exact function of the third manual digit is unclear. The relatively long forelimb, penultimate phalanx of manual digit II, and pedal penultimate phalanges, are interpreted as evidence for the arboreal habit of Epidendrosaurus. Because Epidendrosaurus is more similar to advanced birds in some arboreal features than to Archaeopteryx, we suggest that the initial appearance of tree-adaptation in theropods was probably not directly related to flight but to other functions, such as seeking food or escaping from predators. Electronic Supplementary Material is available if you access this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0353-8. On that page (frame on the left side), a link takes you directly to the supplementary material.
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Prior to recent descriptions, no certain pre-Kimmeridgian representatives of maniraptorans were known.
“Prior to the recent description of abundant maniraptoran theropods from the Oxfordian of China ([4, 5, 27, 31, 34, 45, 46, 57, 58]), no certain pre-Kimmeridgian representatives of this clade were known.”
From Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs (2017) · cites this paper as [57]
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Two feathered dinosaurs from northeastern China
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A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny
Turner, A. H., Makovicky, P. J., & Norell, M. A. (2012) · Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History · doi:10.1206/748.1 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
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A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers
Zhang, F., Zhou, Z., Xu, X., Wang, X., & Sullivan, C. (2008) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature07447 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Self-citationA bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran theropod with preserved evidence of membranous wings
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Self-citationPre‐modern Birds: Avian Divergences in the Mesozoic
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Biplane wing planform and flight performance of the feathered dinosaur <i>Microraptor gui</i>
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A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and the loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs
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A new Jurassic theropod from China documents a transitional step in the macrostructure of feathers
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“This contradicts previous work on these taxa [15,17], which relied on the claw curvature data from Feduccia [82].”
BackgroundMethodRe-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs
Foth, C., & Rauhut, O. W. M. (2017) · BMC Evolutionary Biology · doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1076-y · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“Prior to the recent description of abundant maniraptoran theropods from the Oxfordian of China ([4, 5, 27, 31, 34, 45, 46, 57, 58]), no certain preKimmeridgian representatives of this clade were known.”
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Self-citationWu, Q., O’Connor, J. K., Wang, S., & Zhou, Z. (2024) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.16960 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Unlike the abundant remains available for other pennaraptoran clades, scansoriopterygids are exceedingly rare, with only four species, Epidendrosaurus ( Zhang et al., 2002 ; ( Xu et al., 2002 ); (I) Liaoningvenator based on DNHM D3012 ( Shen et al., 2017 ).”
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- Authors
- Zhang, F., Zhou, Z., Xu, X., & Wang, X.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Venue
- Naturwissenschaften
- Published
- 2002-09-01
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 394-398
- ISSN
- 0028-1042 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1904
- OpenAlex
- W2104352274
- Cited by
- 125
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Die Naturwissenschaften (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Fossil Insects in Amber
- Keywords
- juvenile dinosaurs, arboreal adaptation, forelimb length, pedal phalanges, dinosaur-bird transition, Mesozoic dinosaurs, new genus and species
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, China, Environment, Fossils, Trees, Vertebrates
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