A Basal Alvarezsauroid Theropod from the Early Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China

2010/01/28 by Jonah N. Choiniere, Xing Xu, James M. Clark +3 · 18 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1182143

openalex publication_date 2010/01/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The fossil record of Jurassic theropod dinosaurs closely related to birds remains poor. A new theropod from the earliest Late Jurassic of western China represents the earliest diverging member of the enigmatic theropod group Alvarezsauroidea and confirms that this group is a basal member of Maniraptora, the clade containing birds and their closest theropod relatives. It extends the fossil record of Alvarezsauroidea by 63 million years and provides evidence for maniraptorans earlier in the fossil record than Archaeopteryx. The new taxon confirms extreme morphological convergence between birds and derived alvarezsauroids and illuminates incipient stages of the highly modified alvarezsaurid forelimb.

Citations

• A Basal Dromaeosaurid and Size Evolution Preceding Avian Flight

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• Alvarezsauroidea [wikipedia]