A basal troodontid from the Early Cretaceous of China

Xing Xu (), Mark A. Norell, Xiao-lin Wang, Peter J. Makovicky and Xiao-chun Wu
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Xing Xu: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark A. Norell: American Museum of Natural History
Xiao-lin Wang: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peter J. Makovicky: The Field Museum
Xiao-chun Wu: Canadian Museum of Nature, Station D

Nature, 2002, vol. 415, issue 6873, 780-784

Abstract: Abstract Troodontid dinosaurs form one of the most avian-like dinosaur groups1,2,3,4,5. Their phylogenetic position is hotly debated, and they have been allied with almost all principal coelurosaurian lineages6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Here we report a basal troodontid dinosaur, Sinovenator changii gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Yixian Formation of China. This taxon has several features that are not found in more derived troodontids, but that occur in dromaeosaurids and avialans. The discovery of Sinovenator and the examination of character distributions along the maniraptoran lineage indicate that principal structural modifications toward avians were acquired in the early stages of maniraptoran evolution.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/415780a

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