New Specimens of Microraptor zhaoianus (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from Northeastern China

By Sunny H. Hwang, M. Norell, Ji Qiang, Gao Keqin. 2002

167 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract New specimens of the diminutive theropod dinosaur Microraptor zhaoianus are described. These specimens preserve significant morphological details that are not present or are poorly preserved in the holotype specimen, including aspects of the manus, pectoral girdle, dorsal vertebrae, ilium, and sacrum. These specimens were coded into a current matrix of theropod morphological characters. Microraptor is found to be the sister taxon to other dromaeosaurs. Dromaeosaurids are monophyletic and together with a monophyletic troodontid group form a monophyletic Deinonychosauria, which is the sister taxon to Avialae. Apparently small size is primitive for Deinonychosauria, which has implications for bird origins.

Subfields: Nature and Landscape Conservation, Paleontology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/07a8b128f4194b8b45d3209ffa2d2e2bfdf44687

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. M. Norell
2. O. Mateus
3. R. Araújo
4. Christophe Hendrickx
5. J. Choiniere
6. A. Turner
7. P. Makovicky
8. P. O’Connor

In Paleontology

1. M. Norell
2. O. Mateus
3. R. Araújo
4. Christophe Hendrickx
5. J. Choiniere
6. A. Turner
7. P. Makovicky
8. D. S. Peters

Citations in the corpus

• The distribution of dental features in non-avian theropod dinosaurs: Taxonomic potential, degree of homoplasy, and major evolutionary trends (2019, background): “In paravians, a few dromaeosaurids such as Linheraptor (IVPP V16923), Microraptor (Xu et al., 2000; Hwang et al., 2002), Saurornitholestes (Currie et al., 1990), Shanag (Turner et al., 2007), Tsaagan (Norell et al., 2006; Xu et al., 2010) and Velociraptor (Godefroit et al., 2008) also show this…”
• THE POSTCRANIAL AXIAL SKELETON OF MAJUNGASAURUS CRENATISSIMUS (THEROPODA: ABELISAURIDAE) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCAR (2007, background): “In contrast, pneumaticity of dorsal centra is typically reduced in the smaller-bodied coelurosaurs (e.g., Hwang et al., 2002, dromaeosaurids).”
• A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny (2012, methodology): “In the analyses of Xu et al. (2002a), Hwang et al. (2002), and Xu and Norell (2004), Dromaeosaurus is recovered in a clade with Deinonychus and Achillobator when Adasaurus is excluded from the analysis.”
• A reappraisal of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaur faunas from Australia and New Zealand: evidence for their Gondwanan affinities (2010, background): “Among Dromaeosauridae, Timimus shows a fibular condyle that is plesiomorphically proximally positioned, and medially placed, well separated from the lateral margin of the shaft, as occurs in the unenlagiine theropods Rahonavis, Unenlagia and Buitreraptor (Novas & Puerta 1997; Forster et al. 1998; Ma”
• Non‐avian dinosaur fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning, China (2006, background): “Microraptor zhaoianus is known from four specimens, ranging in size from less than 40–55 cm in body length (Xu et al. 2000b; Hwang et al. 2002; Xu 2002).”
• The tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx (2007, background): “As in other basal avians (e.g. Confuciusornithidae, Chiappe et al., 1999) and in Microraptor (Hwang et al., 2002), but contrary to modern birds, the cranial surface of the distal end lacks a patellar sulcus (Fig.”