Paravians
Temporal range:
Middle JurassicPresent, 165–0 Ma[1]
Six paravian dinosaurs (top to bottom): Confuciusornis, Dromaeosaurus, Microraptor, Anchiornis, a crow, and the Prince Creek troodontid
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Pennaraptora
Clade: Paraves
Sereno, 1997
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Eumaniraptora Padian et al. 1999
  • Deinonychosauria?

Paraves (or "near-birds") are a widespread group of theropod dinosaurs that originated in the Middle Jurassic period. In addition to the extinct dromaeosaurids, troodontids, anchiornithids, and possibly the scansoriopterygids, the group also contains the avialans, which include diverse extinct taxa as well as the over 10,000 species of living birds.[2] Basal members of Paraves are well known for the possession of an enlarged claw on the second digit of the foot, which was held off the ground when walking in some species.[3] A number of differing scientific interpretations of the relationships between paravian taxa exist. New fossil discoveries and analyses make the classification of Paraves an active subject of research.[4]

History of study

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Discovery of Archaeopteryx and aftermath

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Early 20th-century developments

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Dinosaur Renaissance

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Debate about bird origins

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Modern study

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Anatomy

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Like other theropods, all paravians are bipedal, walking on their two hind legs.[5]

The teeth of basal paravians were curved and serrated, but not blade-like except in some specialized species such as Dromaeosaurus albertensis. The serrations on the front edge of dromaeosaurid and troodontid teeth were very small and fine, while the back edge had serrations which were very large and hooked.[6]

Most of the earliest paravian groups were carnivorous, though some smaller species (especially among the troodontids and early avialans) are known to have been omnivores, and it has been suggested that an omnivorous diet was the ancestral state for this group, with strict carnivory evolving in some specialized lineages.[7][6] Fossils also suggest that legs and feet covered with feathers was an ancestral condition, possibly having originated in the Coelurosauria, even if this trait was later lost in more advanced birds.[8]

Size

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Skull morphology

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Integument

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Hands and wings

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Feet and claws

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Skeletal pneumaticity

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Origin and diversification

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Body size evolution

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Evolution of flight

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Respiration and air sacs

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Loss of teeth

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End-Cretaceous extinction

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Evolution of crown-group birds

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Paleobiology and behavior

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Sensory capabilities

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Brain and nervous system

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Metabolism and thermoregulation

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Semi-aquatic behavior

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Color

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Reproduction

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Growth and ontogeny

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Sociality

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Pathology

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Classification

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Technical diagnosis

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Phylogeny

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  • Xu, Xing; Ma, Qingyu; Hu, Dongyu (2010). "Pre-Archaeopteryx coelurosaurian dinosaurs and their implications for understanding avian origins". Chinese Science Bulletin. 55 (35): 3971–3977. Bibcode:2010ChSBu..55.3971X. doi:10.1007/s11434-010-4150-z.
  • Turner et al. (2012)[10]
  • Rauhut and Pol[11]
  • Angolin at al. (2019)[12]
  • Status of unenlagiids[13]
  • Halzskaraptor and the origin of the paravian body plan[14]

One of the primary phylogenetic matrices in the scientific literature is the so-called "TWiG Matrix" from the Theropod Working Group. This matrix was first published by Steven Brusatte and colleagues in 2014.[15]

Paraves


Cau et al., 2017

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Hartman et al., 2019

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Motta et al., 2020

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Taxonomy

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Phylogenetic position of paravian groups in different topologies
Topology 1 Topology 2
Topology 3 Topology 4

Paleoecology

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Diet

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Distribution

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Predation

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Zhang, H.; Wang, M.; Liu, X. (2008). "Constraints on the upper boundary age of the Tiaojishan Formation volcanic rocks in West Liaoning-North Hebei by LA-ICP-MS dating". Chinese Science Bulletin. 53 (22): 3574–3584. Bibcode:2008SciBu..53.3574Z. doi:10.1007/s11434-008-0287-4.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference TurneretalBAMNH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lietal2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Agnolin, Federico L.; Motta, Matias J.; Brissón Egli, Federico; Lo Coco, Gastón; Novas, Fernando E. (2019-02-12). "Paravian Phylogeny and the Dinosaur-Bird Transition: An Overview". Frontiers in Earth Science. 6. doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00252. hdl:11336/130197. ISSN 2296-6463.
  5. ^ Mayr, G. (Oct 2016). Avian Evolution: The Fossil Record of Birds and its Paleobiological Significance (1 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. Ch. 2. ISBN 978-1119020769.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fowleretal2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Zanno, L.E.; Makovicky, P.J. (2011). "Herbivorous ecomorphology and specialization patterns in theropod dinosaur evolution". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 108 (1): 232–237. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108..232Z. doi:10.1073/pnas.1011924108. PMC 3017133. PMID 21173263.
  8. ^ 125-Million-Year-Old Biplanes: New Evidence Suggests the Earliest Bird Species Had Feathers on their Hind Limbs
  9. ^ Park, Jinseok; Son, Minyoung; Park, Jeongyeol; Bang, Sang Yun; Ha, Jungmoon; Moon, Hyungpil; Lee, Yuong-Nam; Lee, Sang-im; Jablonski, Piotr G. (2024). "Escape behaviors in prey and the evolution of pennaceous plumage in dinosaurs". Scientific Reports. 14: 549. Bibcode:2024NatSR..14..549P. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-50225-x. PMID 38272887.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Turner2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Rauhut, Oliver WM; Tischlinger, Helmut; Foth, Christian (2019). "A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany". eLife. 8. doi:10.7554/eLife.43789. PMC 6516837. PMID 31084702.
  12. ^ Agnolin, Federico L.; Motta, Matias J.; Brissón Egli, Federico; Lo Coco, Gastón; Novas, Fernando E. (2019). "Paravian Phylogeny and the Dinosaur-Bird Transition: An Overview". Frontiers in Earth Science. 6. doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00252.
  13. ^ Agnolin, Federico L.; Novas, Fernando E. (2011). "Unenlagiid theropods: Are they members of the Dromaeosauridae (Theropoda, Maniraptora)?". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 83 (1): 117–162. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652011000100008. PMID 21437379.
  14. ^ . doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52867-2. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ Brusatte, Stephen L.; Lloyd, Graeme T.; Wang, Steve C.; Norell, Mark A. (2014). "Gradual Assembly of Avian Body Plan Culminated in Rapid Rates of Evolution across the Dinosaur-Bird Transition" (PDF). Current Biology. 24 (20): 2386–2392. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.08.034. PMID 25264248. S2CID 8879023.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference hesperornithoides was invoked but never defined (see the help page).