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The oldest coelurosaurian

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Abstract

We report here the discovery of a therizinosaur from the Early Jurassic Lower Lufeng Formation (Sinemurian stage) of Yunnan, China. This discovery extends the age range of these unusual animals, previously known only from the Cretaceous period (Albian-Maastrichtian stage1), back by another 94 million years. This is the oldest definitive record of a coelurosaurian theropod, which therefore minimizes the divergence time for members of the group. Most important, it contradicts the theory that the non-avian Coelurosauria occur too late in the fossil record to be related to birds.

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Figure 1: The left mandible of the specimen (V11579).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing, 100044, People's Republic of China

    Xijin Zhao & Xing Xu

Authors
  1. Xijin Zhao
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  2. Xing Xu
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Zhao, X., Xu, X. The oldest coelurosaurian. Nature 394, 234–235 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28300

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