Coelurosauria

Reconstruction of Coelurus fragilis by FunkMonk.

Belongs within: Tetanurae.
Contains: Tyrannosauroidea, Maniraptora.

The Coelurosauria is the clade of theropod dinosaurs including all species more closely related to modern birds than to Allosaurus. This is perhaps the most ecologically and morphologically diverse group of dinosaurs. Even without considering the birds themselves, it includes the tyrannosaurs, the giant graviportal therizinosaurs and the small derived alvarezsaurs. Within the coelurosaurs we have definitive evidence for the presence of protofeathers in basal forms such as Tyrannosauroidea and Compsognathidae. These protofeathers were filamentous, hair-like structures; true aerodynamic feathers, with a knitted planar surface formed from branching filaments, probably developed within the Maniraptora.

Notable subgroups of the Coelurosauria include the Ornithomimosauria, slender cursorial theropods from the Cretaceous of Eurasia and North America. Most ornithomimosaurs lacked teeth, and they may have included omnivorous or herbivorous forms. The Compsognathidae are small coelurosaurs known from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Eurasia; until recently, Compsognathus longipes was regarded as the smallest known non-avian dinosaur (smaller forms are now known among the Maniraptora). Coelurus fragilis is a small theropod (about two metres in length) known from the late Jurassic of Wyoming.

Synapomorphies (from Holtz 1998): Cervical central surfaces amphiplatyan; pubic boot boat-shaped (pointed cranially and caudally) in ventral view, angle between shaft and caudal portion of boot acute; proximal end of fibula 75% or more proximal width of tibia.

<==Coelurosauria [Avofilopluma, Coeluridae, Ornitholestinae]
    |--Sciurumimus GC13
    |--Zuolong GC13
    |--Gasosaurus Dong & Tang 1985 H98, HMC04
    |    `--G. constructus Dong & Tang 1985 HMC04
    |--Tugulusaurus Dong 1973 GC13, HMC04
    |    `--T. faciles Dong 1973 HMC04
    `--+--+--Coelurus Marsh 1879 GC13, HMC04
       |  |    `--C. fragilis Marsh 1879 [incl. C. agilis Marsh 1884] HMC04
       |  `--+--Tanycolagreus topwilsoni GC13, ZZ08
       |     `--Tyrannosauroidea GC13
       `--+--Sinocalliopteryx GC13
          `--+--+--Huaxiagnathus Hwang, Norell et al. 2004 GC13, D07
             |  |    `--H. orientalis ZZ08
             |  `--Compsognathidae [Compsognathia] HMC04
             |       |--Compsognathus Wagner 1861 GC13, HMC04
             |       |    `--C. longipes Wagner 1861 [incl. C. corallestris Bidar, Demay & Thomel 1972] HMC04
             |       |--Sinosauropteryx Ji & Ji 1996 GC13, HMC04
             |       |    `--S. prima Ji & Ji 1996 HMC04
             |       `--Aristosuchus Seeley 1887 N02
             |            `--*A. pusillus (Owen 1876) [=Poekilopleuron pusillus, Poikilopleuron pusillus] N02
             `--+--+--Juravenator GC13
                |  `--Ornitholestes Osborn 1903 GC13, HMC04
                |       `--O. hermanni Osborn 1903 H98 [=Coelurus hermanni P88]
                `--Maniraptoriformes [Bullatosauria, Protoavia] MOW02
                     |--Maniraptora GC13
                     `--+--Nqwebasaurus de Klerk, Forster et al. 2000 GC13, HMC04
                        |    `--N. thwazi de Klerk, Forster et al. 2000 HMC04
                        `--Ornithomimosauria [Arctometatarsalia, Garudimiminae, Ornithomimidae, Ornithomiminae] MKC04
                             |  i. s.: Sinornithomimus Kobayashi & Lü 2003 MKC04
                             |           `--S. dongi Kobayashi & Lü 2003 MKC04
                             |         Coelosaurus (n. d.) MKC04
                             |           |--C. affinis Gilmore 1920 (n. d.) MKC04
                             |           `--C. antiquus Leidy 1865 (n. d.) MKC04
                             |         Timimus hermani Rich & Vickers-Rich 1994 MKC04
                             |--Harpymimus Barsbold & Perle 1984 ZZ08, MKC04
                             |    `--H. okladnikovi Barsbold & Perle 1984 MKC04
                             `--+--Deinocheirus Osmólska & Roniewicz 1970 ZZ08, MKC04 [Deinocheiridae, Deinocheirinae]
                                |    `--D. mirificus Osmólska & Roniewicz 1970 MKC04
                                `--+--Shenzhousaurus Ji, Norell et al. 2003 ZZ08, MKC04
                                   |    `--S. orientalis Ji, Norell et al. 2003 MKC04
                                   `--+--Pelecanimimus Pérez-Moreno, Sanz et al. 1994 ZZ08, MKC04
                                      |    |--P. hoyasi SR05
                                      |    `--P. polyodon Pérez-Moreno, Sanz et al. 1994 MKC04
                                      `--+--Garudimimus Barsbold 1981 GC13, MKC04
                                         |    `--G. brevipes Barsbold 1981 MKC04
                                         `--+--Archaeornithomimus Russell 1972 ZZ08, MKC04
                                            |    |--A. affinis (Gilmore 1920) (see below for synonymy) P88
                                            |    |--A. asiaticus (Gilmore 1933) [=Ornithomimus asiaticus] MKC04
                                            |    `--A. bissektensis Nessov 1995 (n. d.) MKC04
                                            `--+--Gallimimus Osmólska, Roniewicz & Barsbold 1972 GC13, MKC04
                                               |    |--G. bullatus Osmólska, Roniewicz & Barsbold 1972 MKC04 (see below for synonymy)
                                               |    `--G. mongoliensis D07
                                               `--+--Struthiomimus Osborn 1917 ZZ08, MKC04
                                                  |    |--S. altus (Lambe 1902) [=Ornithomimus altus] MKC04
                                                  |    `--S. sedens D07
                                                  `--+--Anserimimus Barsbold 1988 ZZ08, MKC04
                                                     |    `--A. planinychus Barsbold 1988 MKC04
                                                     `--Ornithomimus Marsh 1890 ZZ08, MKC04 (see below for synonymy)
                                                          |--O. antiquus D07
                                                          |--O. edmontonicus Sternberg 1933 MKC04 (see below for synonymy)
                                                          |--O. lonzeensis D07
                                                          |--O. sedens Marsh 1892 (n. d.) MKC04
                                                          |--O. tenuis Marsh 1890 (n. d.) MKC04
                                                          `--O. velox Marsh 1890 MKC04

Coelurosauria incertae sedis:
  Kakuru Molnar & Pledge 1980 HMC04
    `--K. kujani Molnar & Pledge 1980 HMC04
  Scipionyx Dal Sasso & Signore 1998 HMC04
    `--S. samniticus Dal Sasso & Signore 1998 HMC04
  Nedcolbertia Kirkland, Britt et al. 1998 HMC04
    `--N. justinhofmanni Kirkland, Britt et al. 1998 HMC04
  Archaeornithoides Elżanowski & Wellnhofer 1992 HMC04
    `--A. deinosauriscus Elżanowski & Wellnhofer 1992 HMC04
  Ricardoestesia Currie, Rigby & Sloan 1990 HMC04
    |--R. gilmorei Currie, Rigby & Sloan 1990 HMC04
    `--R. isosceles Sankey 2001 HMC04
  Rapator Huene 1932 P88, HMC04
    `--R. ornitholestoides Huene 1932 HMC04
  Pedopenna Xu & Zhang 2005 D07
    `--P. daohugouensis D07

Archaeornithomimus affinis (Gilmore 1920) [=Ornithomimus (Archaeornithomimus) affinis] P88

Gallimimus bullatus Osmólska, Roniewicz & Barsbold 1972 MKC04 [=Ornithomimus bullatus P88]

Ornithomimus Marsh 1890 ZZ08, MKC04 [incl. Dromiceiomimus Russell 1972 MKC04]

Ornithomimus edmontonicus Sternberg 1933 MKC04 [incl. Struthiomimus brevitertius Parks 1926 MKC04, Dromiceiomimus brevitertius N85, Ornithomimus brevitertius P88, Struthiomimus currelli Parks 1933 MKC04, S. ingens Parks 1933 MKC04, Ornithomimus ingens O69, S. samueli Parks 1928 MKC04, Dromiceiomimus samueli P88, Struthiomimus samueli P88]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[GC13] Godefroit, P., A. Cau, Hu D.-Y., F. Escuillié, Wu W. & G. Dyke. 2013. A Jurassic avialan dinosaur from China resolves the early phylogenetic history of birds. Nature 498: 359–362.

[H98] Holtz, T. R., Jr. 1998. A new phylogeny of the carnivorous dinosaurs. Gaia 15: 5–61.

[HMC04] Holtz, T. R., Jr, R. E. Molnar & P. J. Currie. 2004. Basal Tetanurae. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2^nd ed. pp. 71–110. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[MKC04] Makovicky, P. J., Y. Kobayashi & P. J. Currie. 2004. Ornithomimosauria. In: Weishampel, D. B., P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds) The Dinosauria 2^nd ed. pp. 137–150. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[MOW02] Maryańska, T., H. Osmólska & M. Wolsan. 2002. Avialan status for Oviraptorosauria. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 (1): 97–116.

[N02] Naish, D. 2002. The historical taxonomy of the Lower Cretaceous theropods (Dinosauria) Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus from the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 113: 153–163.

[N85] Norman, D. 1985 (reprinted 2000). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Salamander Books: London.

[O69] Ostrom, J. H. 1969. Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus, an unusual theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 30: 1–165.

[P88] Paul, G. S. 1988. Predatory Dinosaurs of the World: A Complete Illustrated Guide. Simon & Schuster: New York.

[SR05] Senter, P., & J. H. Robins. 2005. Range of motion in the forelimb of the theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, and implications for predatory behaviour. Journal of Zoology 266: 307–318.

[ZZ08] Zhang, F., Z. Zhou, X. Xu, X. Wang & C. Sullivan. 2008. A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers. Nature 455: 1105–1108.

Last updated: 11 July 2018.