Caudipteridae

Caudipteridae is a family of oviraptorosaurian dinosaurs known from the Early Cretaceous of China. Found in the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations, the group existed between 125-120 million years ago. Distinguishing characteristics of this group have been indicated as including a unique dagger-shaped pygostyle (the bone at the tip of the tail in birds, used to anchor a "fan" of feathers).[1] No clade definition has been given.

Caudipterids
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 124.6–120 Ma
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Replica of a Caudipteryx zoui skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: †Oviraptorosauria
Family: †Caudipteridae
Zhou & Wang, 2000
Type species
†Caudipteryx zoui
Ji et al., 1998
Genera
Synonyms
  • Caudipterygidae Osmólska, Currie & Barsbold, 2004

The first caudipterid described was Caudipteryx zoui (named in 1998),[2] though the family itself was not named until the discovery of a second species, Caudipteryx dongi, in 2000.[3] Caudipteridae was restricted to the single genus Caudipteryx and was therefore monotypic, containing only a single type and often considered redundant. However, in 2008 Similicaudipteryx yixianensis was described and classified as a caudipterid.[1]

See also

References
  1. He, T., Wang, X.-L., and Zhou, Z.-H. (2008). "A new genus and species of caudipterid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China. The anatomical characteristics Caudipterids were highly uniform for most oviraptorians. of " Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 46(3): 178-189.
  2. Ji, Q., Currie, P.J., Norell, M.A., and Ji, S. (1998). "Two feathered dinosaurs from northeastern China." Nature, 393(6687): 753–761. doi:10.1038/31635PDF fulltext Archived 2006-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Zhou, Z., and Wang, X. (2000). "A new species of Caudipteryx from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, northeast China." Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 38(2): 113–130. PDF fulltext Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine


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