Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs

Foth, Christian; Rauhut, Oliver W. M.

doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1076-y

Back

Journal article

Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs

Foth, Christian Department of Geosciences, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland - Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany
Rauhut, Oliver W. M. SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany

02.12.2017

Published in:

BMC Evolutionary Biology. - 2017, vol. 17, p. 236

English Archaeopteryx is an iconic fossil that has long been pivotal for our understanding of the origin of birds. Remains of this important taxon have only been found in the Late Jurassic lithographic limestones of Bavaria, Germany. Twelve skeletal specimens are reported so far. Archaeopteryx was long the only pre-Cretaceous paravian theropod known, but recent discoveries from the Tiaojishan Formation, China, yielded a remarkable diversity of this clade, including the possibly oldest and most basal known clade of avialan, here named Anchiornithidae. However, Archaeopteryx remains the only Jurassic paravian theropod based on diagnostic material reported outside China.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Géosciences

Language