Xunmenglong

Not to be confused with Yunmenglong.

Xunmenglong
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Hauterivian
130.7 Ma
↓
Reconstructed skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Compsognathidae
Genus: †Xunmenglong
Xing et al., 2019
Type species
†Xunmenglong yinliangis
Xing et al., 2019
Holotype fossil

Xunmenglong (from Chinese: 迅猛龍/迅猛龙; pinyin: Xùnměnglóng; lit. 'swift fierce dragon') is a genus of compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the Huajiying Formation from Hebei Province in China. The type and only species is Xunmenglong yinliangis. The holotype material consists of a pelvis, tail base and hindlimbs that had previously been part of a chimera containing three different animals. The animal is described as being the smallest known member of Compsognathidae, being about the size of the sub-adult Scipionyx holotype specimen or approximately 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in length.[1]

Classification

In the original description, Xunmenglong is recovered as a Compsognathid in a polyomy including Compsognathus, Huaxiagnathus, and Juravenator. However, Andrea Cau (2024) recovered Xunmenglong not as a Compsognathid, but instead as a basal member of Tetanurae.[2]

References

  1. ^ Xing, Lida; Miyashita, Tetsuto; Wang, Donghao; Niu, Kechung; Currie, Philip J. (2019). "A new compsognathid theropod dinosaur from the oldest assemblage of the Jehol Biota in the Lower Cretaceous Huajiying Formation, northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 107: 104285. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104285. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 210615455.
  2. ^ Cau, Andrea (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 63 (1): 1-19. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08 (inactive 2024-11-20).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)


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