Dalianraptor
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 120 Ma
↓
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Paraves
Clade: Avialae
Genus: †Dalianraptor
Gao & Liu, 2005
Species:
†D. cuhe
Binomial name
†Dalianraptor cuhe
Gao & Liu, 2005

Dalianraptor (meaning "Dalian thief") is a dubious genus of prehistoric bird that lived in China about 120 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period that was found in the Jiufotang Formation of China.[1] It was initially believed to have been a possible dromaeosaurid before it was described in 2005.[2]

Discovery and naming

The holotype, D2139, was discovered sometime before the 2000s, when Matthew Martyniuk saw a photograph of the holotype, which was then labelled as an undescribed possible dromaeosaurid.[2] The type, and only known species, D. cuhe, was named and described by Gao & Liu in 2005.[1]

More recently, it is being suspected that the specimen is a chimera forged for the fossil trade,[3] namely a Jeholornis with the arms exchanged by those of an unnamed flightless theropod.[4][2] If the holotype is not a chimera, then the placement of Dalianraptor within Aves is still uncertain.[4]

Description

Dalianraptor is very similar to the contemporary avialian Jeholornis, though it has a longer digit I (thumb-equivalent) and shorter forelimbs,[5] which suggests it may have been flightless. It also reached about 80 centimetres (31 in) in length.

References

  1. ^ a b Gao and Liu (2005). "A new avian taxon from Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning." Global Geology, 24(4), 313-316.
  2. ^ a b c Matthew Martyniuk (2012-08-10). "DinoGoss: The Strange Bird Dalianraptor cuhe". Dinogoss.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  3. ^ O'Connor, Sun, Xu, Wang and Zhou (2012). "A new species of Jeholornis with complete caudal integument." Historical Biology, 24(1): 29-41.
  4. ^ a b Naish, Darren (2011). "Getting a major chapter on birds – ALL birds – into a major book on dinosaurs | Tetrapod Zoology, Scientific American Blog Network". PLOS ONE. Blogs.scientificamerican.com. 6 (11): e26350. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026350. PMC 3227577. PMID 22140427. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  5. ^ Chiappe, Luis M.; Dyke, Gareth J. (2006). "The Early Evolutionary History of Birds". Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea. 22 (1): 133–151.


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