Pygostyle-like structure from Beipiaosaurus

["Nicholas Gardner" <ratites637@hotmail.com>]

Surprised I haven't seen this mentioned sooner, but:

Xu Xing, Cheng Yennien, Wang Xiaolin, and Chang Chunhsiang, (2003).  
Pygostyle-like Structure from Beipiaosaurus (Theropoda, Therizinosauroidea) 
from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.  Acta 
Geologica Sinica, 77(3):294-298

Abstract
Pygostyle was previously considered as a unique structure of 
ornithothoracine birds, used to maneuver tail feathers.  A similiar 
structure from an oviraptorosaurian dinosaur was considered functionally 
associated with the retrices as in birds.  We report a pygostyle structure 
from a therizinosauroid dinosaur.  The presence of filamentous integuments, 
but absence of retrices, on the tail of this therizinosauroid, combined with 
other lines of evidence, suggests that the initial function of the pygostyle 
was not related to the retrices.

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