Oh my goodness! Unless you are a Tree of Life developer, you really shouldn't be here. This page is part of our beta test site, where we develop new features for the ToL, often messing up a thing or two in the process. Please visit the official version of this page, which is available here.

Temporary Page

Classification follows Sereno 1999.

Containing group: Theropoda

Other Names for Coelurosauria

• Birds, tyrannosaurs, velociraptors, etc.

References

Barsbold, R., P. J. Currie, N. P. Myhrvold, H. Osmolska, K. Tsogtbaatar, and M. Watabe. 2000. A pygostyle from a non-avian theropod - The independent evolution of a bird-like tail has been discovered in an oviraptorosaur. Nature 403:155-156.

Chen, P.-J., Z.-M. Dong, and S.-N. Zhen. 1998. An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China. Nature 391:147-152.

Chiappe, L. M. and L. M. Witmer, eds. 2002. Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif.

Chiappe, L. M., M. A. Norell, and J. M. Clark. 1998. The skull of a relative of the stem-group bird Mononykus. Nature 392:275-278.

Currie, P. J. 1995. New information on the anatomy and relationships of Dromaeosaurus albertensis (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15:576-591.

Dal Sasso, C. and M. Signore. 1998. Exceptional soft-tissue preservation in a theropod dinosaur from Italy. Nature 392:383-387.

Dingus, L. and T. Rowe. 1997. The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds. W. H. Freeman and Co., New York.

Forster, C. A., S. D. Sampson, L. M. Chiappe, and D. W. Krause. 1998. The theropod ancestry of birds: New evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Science 279:1915-1919.

Gauthier, J. and L. F. Gall, eds. 2001. New Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of Birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

Ji, Q., P. J. Currie, M. A. Norell, and S. A. Ji. 1998. Two feathered dinosaurs from northeastern China. Nature 393:753-761.

Jones, T. D., J. A. Ruben, L. D. Martin, E. N. Kurochkin, A. Feduccia, P. F. A. Maderson, W. J. Hillenius, N. R. Geist, and V. Alifanov. 2000. Nonavian feathers in a Late Triassic archosaur. Science 288:2202-2205.

Holtz, T. R. 1994. The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae - Implications for theropod systematics. Journal of Paleontology 68:1100-1117.

Holtz, T. R. 1996. Phylogenetic taxonomy of the Coelurosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Paleontology 70:536-538.

Norell, M. A., J. M. Clark, L. M. Chiappe, and D. Dashzeveg. 1995. A nesting dinosaur. Nature 378:774-776.

Padian, K. and L. M. Chiappe. 1998. The origin and early evolution of birds. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 73:1-42.

Sereno, P. C. 1999. The evolution of dinosaurs. Science 284:2137-2147.

Thomas, A. L. R. and J. P. Garner. 1998. Are birds dinosaurs? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:129-130.

Unwin, D.M. 1998. Feathers, filaments and theropod dinosaurs. Nature 391:119-120.

Varricchio, D. J., F. Jackson, J. J. Borkowski, and J. R. Horner. 1997. Nest and egg clutches of the dinosaur Troodon formosus and the evolution of avian reproductive traits. Nature 385:247-250.

Xu, X., Y.-N. Cheng, X.-L. Wang, and C.-H. Chang. 2002. An unusual oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from China. Nature 419:291 - 293.

Xu, X., Z.-L. Tang, and X.-L. Wang. 1999. A therizinosauroid dinosaur with integumentary structures from China. Nature 399:350-354.

Xu, X., X.-L. Wang, and X.-C. Wu. 1999. A dromaeosaurid dinosaur with a filamentous integument from the Yixian Formation of China. Nature 401:262-266.

Xu, X., Z. Zhou, X. Wang, X. Kuang, F. Zhang and X. Du. 2003. Four-winged dinosaurs from China. Nature 421:335-340.

Information on the Internet

• Are Birds Really Dinosaurs? DinoBuzz, UCMP Berkeley.
• China’s Feathered Dinosaurs. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History online exhibit.
• Dinosaurs and Birds. Enchanted Learning Software.
• Jeff Poling's Journal of Dinosaur Paleontology has online articles about Dromaeosaurids, Oviraptorids, and Tyrannosaurids.

• Information about the discovery of Sinosauropteryx prima, a small theropod that may be related to Compsognathus (Chen et al. 1998):
  • Bones of Contention. The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Professor Finds Clues to Origin of Birds. Environmental News Network.
  • Dino Feathers Stir Debate. ABC News Science.

• Another Dino with ‘Feathers’. Information about Beipaosaurus inexpectus, a therizinosauroid theropod (Xu et al. 1999a). ABC News Science.

• Bambiraptor Home Page. Fossil Work Laboratories.
• Museum unveils bird-like dinosaur. Information about Bambiraptor feinbergi. Environmental News Network.
• Fluffy 'raptors discovered in China. Information about Sinornithosaurus millenii, a dromaeosaurid theropod (Xu et al. 1999b). BBC Online.

• Information about the discovery of Protarchaeopteryx robusta and Caudipteryx zoui (Ji & al. 1998):
  • A Feathered Dinosaur? . ABC News Science.
  • Dinos of a Feather. ABC News Science.
  • Feathered Creatures From China Boost Dinosaur-Bird Connection. National Geographic Press Release.
  • Birds from Dinosaurs? Science Friday radio program.

  For additional web resources on the phylogenetic position of birds consult the Information on the Internet section on the Aves page.