Similicaudipteryx

Similicaudipteryx
	Skeletal reconstruction
Temporal occurrence
	Lower Cretaceous (early to middle Albian )
	112.9 to 107.5 million years
Locations
	China , Liaoning ( Jiufotang Formation );
Systematics
	Theropoda
	Coelurosauria
	Maniraptora
	Oviraptorosauria
	Caudipteridae
	Similicaudipteryx
Scientific name
	Similicaudipteryx
	He , Wang & Zhou , 2008
Art
	Similicaudipteryx yixianensis;

Similicaudipteryx is a genus theropod dinosaur from the group of Oviraptorosauria from the Lower Cretaceous Liaonings ( China ).

The only species Similicaudipteryx yixianensis was first described in 2008 . Similicaudipteryx is considered a close relative of Caudipteryx and is classified together with this within the Caudipteridae family. It was a small, very bird-like, and probably feathered maniraptore .

Find and naming

Similicaudipteryx is known for a partial skeleton without a skull ( holotype , catalog number IVPP V 12556), which shows, among other things, almost completely preserved hind legs and the pelvic region. The find was made in approximately 110 million year old sediments (early to middle Aptian ), which can be assigned to the Jiufotang Formation , a fossil-rich stratification of the Jehol group .

The genus name similicaudipteryx means "similar to Caudipteryx" and plays on the closely related Caudipteryx at which Artepitheth yixianensis refers to the location in the country Yixian in western Liaoning.

features

Similicaudipteryx showed a number of features typical of oviraptorosaurs ( synapomorphies ), such as the short tail, which had only 23 to 26 caudal vertebrae, and the arms which were short compared to the hind legs. Similarities to caudipteryx were found in the iliac and foot bones. In contrast to Caudipteryx , Similicaudipteryx had a pygostyle - the last caudal vertebrae were fused together. This feature is otherwise only known from the Oviraptorosaur Nomingia and the birds and could have supported a fan of feathers at the tail end. Other differences to Caudipteryx include the length ratios between the iliac and pubic bone and between the iliac and sacrum. Furthermore, Similicaudipteryx shows large and deep hypapophyses as well as pleurocoeles (cavities on the front) on the vertebrae.

literature

Tao He, Xiao-Lin Wang, Zhong-He Zhou: A new genus and species of caudipterid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China. In Vertebrata PalAsiatica. Vol. 46, No. 3, 2008, ZDB -ID 2485763-4 , pp. 178-189, digitized version (PDF; 1.82 MB) .

Individual evidence

^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 149, online .

[paul_10-1] Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 149, online .