A Basal Alvarezsauroid Theropod from the Early Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China
Abstract
Big Finger: Alvarezsauroidea are an enigmatic group of theropods presumed to be closely related to birds, though most specimens are younger than Archaeopteryx . Choiniere et al. (p. 571 ; see news story by Stone) now describe a more complete early specimen, dating to about 160 million years ago, which supports the conclusion that Alvarezsauroidea are a basal group of the clade containing both birds and their close theropod relatives. The fossil also helps to reveal the evolution of this group's peculiar forelimb, which includes one enlarged functional finger.
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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 [46]
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References 25 · Cited by 148
- Authors
- Choiniere, J. N., Xu, X., Clark, J. M., Forster, C. A., Guo, Y., & Han, F.
- Affiliations
- George Washington University (US)
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Choiniere, Jonah N.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2010-01-29
- Volume
- 327
- Issue
- 5965
- Pages
- 571-574
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W1972941743
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 12.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (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
- theropod dinosaurs, Maniraptora, Late Jurassic, Xinjiang, dinosaur fossils, avian evolution, morphological convergence, forelimb morphology, Archaeopteryx, dinosaur-bird relationship
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Bones of Upper Extremity, Birds, Bone and Bones, China, Biological Evolution, Forelimb, Fossils, Phylogeny, Skeleton, Skull, Spine, Tooth, Dinosaurs
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