Beipiaognathus

Beipiaognathus (meaning Beipiao jaw) is a dubious genus of coelurosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.[1]

Beipiaognathus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125–121 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Compsognathidae
Genus: †Beipiaognathus
Hu et al., 2016
Species:
†B. jii
Binomial name
†Beipiaognathus jii
Hu et al., 2016

The genus was initially assigned to the Compsognathidae based on the presence of two traits: fan-shaped dorsal neural spines and a robust I-1 phalanx on the hand.[1] However, it also differs from other compsognathids in several ways: the teeth are unserrated and conical; the ulna is proportionally longer; the II-1 phalanx on the hand is longer and more robust; and the tail is much shorter.[1]

However, Andrea Cau informally noted a number of points in the fossil that are indicative of it having been artificially assembled, thus rendering the specimen a phylogenetically uninformative chimaera. Additionally, he argued that the characters cited are not unique to compsognathids, with fan-shaped neural spines being also seen in ornithomimosaurs and the troodontid Sinovenator, and the robust I-1 phalanx also being seen in alvarezsaurids.[2][3]

References
  1. Hu, Y; Wang, X; Huang, J (2016). "A new species of compsognathid from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning, China". Journal of Geology. 40: 191–196.
  2. Xing, L.; Miyashita, T.; Wang, D.; Niu, K.; Currie, P.J. (2020). "A new compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the oldest assemblage of the Jehol Biota in the Lower Cretaceous Huajiying Formation, northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 107: 104285. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104285.
  3. Cau, A. (August 29, 2016). "Lo status (pale)ontologico di Beipiaognathus". Theropoda (in Italian). Retrieved November 27, 2020.
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