Maniraptora

From EvoWiki

Maniraptora, Gauthier (1986)

Maniraptora is the crown clade of Maniraptoriformes, and holophyly thereof is underwritten by the following characters:

a)Reduction or loss of the prefrontal

b)Prominent axial epipophyses

c)Specialized hypapophyses on ventral surfaces of cervical and thoracic vertebrae

d)Sub-rectangular coracoids

e)Elongate forelimb comparative to Tetanurae

f)Ulna bowed caudally

g)Semilunate carpal block

h)Slender metacarpal III bowed laterally

i)Low pubic process of the ilium

j)Reduced ischium

k)Lesser trochanter confluent with the head of the femur

l)Fourth trochanter absent

m)Pedal digit IV longer than digit II

Additional synapomorphies of Maniraptora include feathery integument, as evidenced by the latest finds from the Cretaceous Yixian lagerstatten of China.

JGK