Microraptoria

Microraptoria
Temporal range: 125–76.5 Ma
Fossil specimen of a Microraptor, with white arrows pointing at preserved feathers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Family: †Dromaeosauridae
Clade: †Microraptoria
Senter et al., 2004
Genera
Synonyms
  • Microraptorinae Senter et al., 2004
  • Microraptorini Senter et al., 2004

Microraptoria (Greek, μίκρος, mīkros: "small"; Latin, raptor: "one who seizes") is a clade of paravian theropods known for long feathers on their legs They appeared 125 million years ago in China. Many may have been semi-arboreal gliders. Microraptorians were relatively small; adult specimens of Microraptor range between 77–90 centimetres long (2.53–2.95 ft) and weigh up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), making them some of the smallest known dinosaurs.[1][2] The largest, Hesperonychus, Graciliraptor and Sinornithosaurus, were no more than 1.8 metres long.[1]

Classification

Microraptoria is usually classified as clade of dromaeosaurid. Senter and colleagues expressly coined the name without the subfamily suffix -inae to avoid perceived issues with erecting a traditional family-group taxon, should the group be found to lie outside dromaeosauridae proper.[3] Sereno offered a revised definition of the sub-group containing Microraptor to ensure that it would fall within Dromaeosauridae, and erected the subfamily Microraptorinae, attributing it to Senter et al., though this usage has only appeared on his online TaxonSearch database and has not been formally published.[4]

The cladogram below follows a 2012 analysis by paleontologists Phil Senter, James I. Kirkland, Donald D. DeBlieux, Scott Madsen and Natalie Toth.[5]

Dromaeosauridae

Xiaotingia

Unenlagiinae

Shanag
Eudromaeosauria

Saurornitholestinae

Velociraptorinae

Dromaeosaurinae




Microraptoria

Tianyuraptor

Hesperonychus


Microraptor sp.

Microraptor gui

Microraptor zhaoianus

Cryptovolans

Graciliraptor

Sinornithosaurus










See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix.
  2. ↑ Chatterjee, S., and Templin, R.J. (2007). "Biplane wing planform and flight performance of the feathered dinosaur Microraptor gui." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(5): 1576-1580.
  3. ↑ Senter, Phil; Barsbold, R.; Britt, Brooks B.; Burnham, David B. (2004). "Systematics and evolution of Dromaeosauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda)". Bulletin of the Gunma Museum of Natural History. 8: 1–20.
  4. ↑ Sereno, P. C. 2005. Stem Archosauria—TaxonSearch [version 1.0, November 7, 2005
  5. ↑ Senter, P.; Kirkland, J. I.; Deblieux, D. D.; Madsen, S.; Toth, N. (2012). Dodson, Peter, ed. "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 3352940Freely accessible. PMID 22615813.

References

3."Expand and Life history of a basal bird:morphometrics of the Early Cretaceous Confuciusornis" Luis M Chiappe, Jesús Marugán-Lobón,Shu'an Ji & Zhonghe Zhou(2008)

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