Fukuipteryx Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
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Reconstructions and restoration. a–c Skeletal reconstructions of FPDM-V-9769 in cranial (a), dorsal (b), and left-lateral (c) views. d Life restoration of Fukuipteryx prima | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Avialae |
Genus: | † Fukuipteryx Imai et al., 2019 |
Species: | †F. prima |
Binomial name | |
†Fukuipteryx prima Imai et al., 2019 | |
Fukuipteryx is an extinct genus of basal avialan dinosaurs found in Early Cretaceous deposits from Japan's Kitadani Formation. It contains one species, Fukuipteryx prima. [1]
In 2013, the first associated skeleton of an Early Cretaceous avialan from Japan was collected at the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry in Katsuyama, Fukui, central Japan. The specimen is three-dimensionally preserved, and exhibits several autapomorphies, which led to the creation of a new taxon. [1]
In 2019, the type species Fukuipteryx prima was named and described by Takuya Imai, Yoichi Azuma, Soichiro Kawabe, Masateru Shibata, Kazunori Miyata, Wang Min and Zhou Zhonghe. The genus name combines a reference to Fukui with the Ancient Greek pteryx, meaning "feather". The specific name means "the first" in Latin and refers to its basal position on the avialan phylogenetic tree.
The holotype, FPDM-V-9769, was found in a layer of green sandstone from the Kitadani Formation that dates from the Aptian, about 120 million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton with a lower jaw. In total, a right surangular, two cervical vertebrae, four back vertebrae, two sacral vertebrae, five tail vertebrae, the pygostyle, ribs, a wishbone, both coracoid pelvis bones, the right ilium bone, the left upper arm bone, the ulna and radius of both forearms, the second right metacarpal, the left hand and both lower hindlimbs minus the calf bones and toes are preserved. The skeleton is not articulated but is preserved three-dimensionally. It is a subadult animal, less than one year old. It is part of the collection of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. The fossil was not fully prepared from its matrix and the bones were reconstructed via a CAT-scan. [1]
Fukuipteryx was about the size of a modern pigeon. [2]
Fukuipteryx shows several autapomorphies (unique derived characters) that indicate that it was not a very basal species, in the sense that it would be outside of Avialae. A pygostyle, a fusion of the posterior tail vertebrae, is present, suggesting that the loss of a long tail was a less important step in the evolution of flight than was previously thought. The pygostyle is robust with rudiments of neural spines still visible, while the rear end has a paddle-shaped structure. The furcula is robust and U-shaped, but the angle between the branches is not very large. The coracoid is a long strut, not fused to the shoulder blade. The humerus is the largest bone of the limbs. The humerus has a round depression on the front top of its head. The shaft of the humerus is bent upwards (with the wing in a horizontal position). The ulna and radius are longer than the femur. [1]
A cladistic analysis recovered Fukuipteryx as an early-diverging avialan closer to modern birds than to Archaeopteryx , but more basal than Jeholornis . Below is a cladogram following that analysis: [1]
Beipiaosaurus is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived in China during the Early Cretaceous in the Yixian Formation. The first remains were found in 1996 and formally described in 1999. Before the discovery of Yutyrannus, Beipiaosaurus were among the heaviest dinosaurs known from direct evidence to be feathered. Beipiaosaurus is known from three reported specimens. Numerous impressions of feather structures were preserved that allowed researchers to determine the feathering color which turned out to be brownish.
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Mirarce is a genus of enantornithe bird from the Late Cretaceous of Utah. It contains a single species, M. eatoni. It was similar in size to modern turkeys.
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Ambopteryx is a genus of scansoriopterygid dinosaur from the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic of China. It is the second dinosaur to be found with both feathers and bat-like membranous wings. Yi, the first such dinosaur, was described in 2015 and is the sister taxon to Ambopteryx. The holotype specimen is thought to be a sub-adult or adult. The specimen is estimated to have had a body length of 32 centimetres (13 in) and a weight of 306 grams (10.8 oz). The genus includes one species, Ambopteryx longibrachium.
Symmetrolestes is an extinct genus of small spalacotheriid mammal from the Early Cretaceous period of Japan. The genus contains one species known as S. parvus, the type fossil is from fluvial deposits located in the Dinosaur Quarry in the Kitadani Formation, near the city of Katsuyama which lies alongside valley of the Sugiyamagawa River. It was described by Tsubamoto and Rougier in 2004 keeping the holotype at the National Science Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Kompsornis is an extinct genus of avialan dinosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period of China. The type and only known species is Kompsornis longicaudus; the specific name means "long-tailed". It is known from only a single fossil specimen from the Jiufotang Formation. Kompsornis was closely related to the well-known Jeholornis, another long-tailed avialan from China, but differs from it in features of its skeleton, particularly the fusion and growth rate of its bones. Like other jeholornithiforms, Kompsornis was a long-tailed avialan with long wings and possessed little or no teeth, with none identified in the single specimen of Kompsornis.
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Tyrannomimus is an extinct genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaurs from the Kitadani Formation of Japan. The type species is Tyrannomimus fukuiensis.