Maniraptora

A replica of MIWG 1530, the holotype of the indeterminate archosaur Yaverlandia bitholus. As seen from two angles.

Autapomorphies proposed for Diuqin lechiguanae gen. et sp. nov. (MUCPv 1401), with images generated from three-dimensional scans of selected bones. A–B, posteriormost (last) sacral neural arch (MUCPv 1401/1) in dorsal (A) and posterior (B) views. C, anterior caudal neural arch (MUCPv 1401/2) in dorsal view. D, left humerus (MUCPv 1401/4) in lateral view. Abbreviations: al, accessory lamina; dldpr, distolateral deltopectoral ridge; for, foramen. Scale bars equal 3 centimeters

Six maniraptoran dinosaurs (top to bottom): the Zamyn Khondt oviraptorosaur, Sinornithosaurus, the Alaskan troodontid, Patagonykus, a short-tailed albatross, Nothronychus

Diuqin is an unenlagiine dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Argentina. Unenlagiines, known exclusively from South America, are usually classified as dromaeosaurs though this is sometimes debated. Like dromaeosaurs, they were covered in feathers, carnivorous, and had the large sickle-like claw on the inner toe of each foot. Unique to unenlagiines is their elongated snout, suggesting a piscivorous diet. Diuqin was a medium-sized unenlagiine, at about 4 m in length.

Figure 1. Evolution of macroecological traits in Dinosauria. Large scale event in dinosaur evolution (a); the origin of dinosaurs (star), hyperthermals (volcano), the earliest fossil Avialae (bird), the earliest fossil angiosperm (flower), the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction (asteroid). Phylogeny of dinosaurs (b) redrawn from Sereno and adapted to the current consensus and upon which an ancestral state reconstruction of temperature niche (mean annual temperature) after Chiarenza et al. is plotted; Mesozoic palaeogeographies (c) for Triassic (T), Jurassic (J) and Cretaceous (K). Silhouette colours symbolize body mass for each of the taxa represented; information on dietary habits are plotted after Barrett and Zanno & Makovicky; numbers represent clades discussed through this study: 1, Ornithischia; 2, Thyreophora; 3, Ornithopoda; 4, Hadrosauroidea; 5, Marginocephalia; 6, Ceratopsia; 7, Saurischia; 8, Sauropodomorpha; 9, Sauropoda; 10, Theropoda; 11, Ceratosauria; 12, Tetanurae; 13, Coelurosauria; 14, Maniraptoriformes; 15, Maniraptora; 16, Deinonychosauria; 17, Avialae; 18, Ornithothoraces. Palaeogeographies modified from original plots via R package ‘mapast’ using plate models by Scotese.

Life restoration of Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo.

Archaeopteryx, Romanian stamp from 1993

Life reconstruction of Alexornis antecedens.

Composite figure of various feathered maniraptorans: Archaeopteryx, Anchiornis, Microraptor and Zhenyuanlong

Cladogram of amniotes. Based on File:Cladogram Amniota A.jpg

Cladogram of the former "Reptilia" (red)

Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, an undescribed crested oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus. This is a collection of six different works which have been previously published on Wikimedia Commons (see source field below).

Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, an undescribed crested oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus. This is a collection of six different works which have been previously published on Wikimedia Commons (see source field below).

Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, an undescribed crested oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus. This is a collection of six different works which have been previously published on Wikimedia Commons (see source field below).

Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, an undescribed crested oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus. This is a collection of six different works which have been previously published on Wikimedia Commons (see source field below).

Six exemplar coelurosaurs (clockwise from top left): Tyrannosaurus rex, Sinosauropteryx prima, Deinonychus antirrhopus, Archaeopteryx lithographica, an undescribed crested oviraptorid, and Passer domesticus. This is a collection of six different works which have been previously published on Wikimedia Commons (see source field below).