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That one might simply be a mistake, "Theropoda" and "Thecodontia" are fairly similar-looking words.
Sent from Outlook From: dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu> on behalf of Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>
Sent: October 24, 2017 8:10 PM To: dinosaur-l@usc.edu Subject: Re: [dinosaur] Jehol Biota rise and fall + protoceratopsids from Alxa, Inner Mongolia, China + more free pdfs Brad McFeeters <archosauromorph2@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Shao et al. 2017 strangely refer to _Liaoningornis_ as "the only member of > the Neornithes in the Yixian Formation." Has anyone else ever considered it > to be that derived? My guess is that the authors have confused 'Neornithes' with 'Ornithurae'. _Liaoningornis_ was originally described as a member of the Ornithurae (Hou, 1997; Chinese Science Bulletin 42: 413-417), where it was described as a "carinate bird" on account of its keeled sternum. However, it was assigned to a new order (Liaoningornithiformes) at the base of the Ornithurae, not the crown clade. Since then, _Liaoningornis_ has been redescribed and referred to the Enantiornithes (O'Connor 2012; Vertebrata Palasiatica 50: 25-37). This review (Shao et al. 2017) contains a few dodgy statements. There's also this: "After the Yale conference, many feathered dinosaurs such as _Beipiaosaurus_, _Sinornithosaurus_, _Microraptor_, _Sinovenator_, provided new evidences for the "Thecodontia-origin" of birds..." Elsewhere, the review makes it clear that birds are descended from dinosaurs, so this statement is odd. |