CaudipteryxCaudipteryx (which means "tail feather") is a genus of peacock-sized theropod dinosaurs that lived in the Barremian age of the early Cretaceous (about 124.6 million years ago). They were feathered and extremely birdlike in their overall appearance, to the point that some paleontologists think it was a bird. Two species have been described: C. zoui (the type species), in 1998, and C. dongi, in 2000. Caudipteryx fossils were first discovered in the Yixian Formation of the Sihetun area of Liaoning Province, northeastern China in 1997.
Origin of birdsThe scientific question of within which larger group of animals birds evolved has traditionally been called the "origin of birds". The present scientific consensus is that birds are a group of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs that originated during the Mesozoic Era. A close relationship between birds and dinosaurs was first proposed in the nineteenth century after the discovery of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx in Germany. Birds and extinct non-avian dinosaurs share many unique skeletal traits.
ManiraptoriformesManiraptoriformes is a clade of dinosaurs with pennaceous feathers and wings that contains ornithomimosaurs and maniraptorans. This group was named by Thomas Holtz, who defined it as "the most recent common ancestor of Ornithomimus and birds, and all descendants of that common ancestor." Many fossils have been discovered in recent years, particularly in China. Many of the feathered dinosaurs belong to this clade. In particular, a fossil of the Alvarezsauridae Shuvuuia has a version of keratin consistent with that of avian feathers.
CarcharodontosaurusCarcharodontosaurus (ˌkɑːrkəroʊ-ˌdɒntoʊ-ˈsɔːrəs; shark-toothed lizard) is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 99 to 94 million years ago during the Albian and Cenomanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first described from Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer during a 1914 expedition to Egypt.
JeholornisJeholornis (meaning "Jehol bird") is a genus of avialans that lived between approximately 122 and 120 million years ago during the early Cretaceous Period in China. Fossil Jeholornis were first discovered in the Jiufotang Formation in Hebei Province, China (in what was previously Rehe Province, also known as Jehol—hence the name) and additional specimens have been found in the older Yixian Formation. Jeholornis had long tails and few small teeth, and were approximately the size of turkeys, making them among the largest avialans known until the Late Cretaceous.
Dinosaur renaissanceThe dinosaur renaissance was a small-scale scientific revolution that started in the late 1960s and led to renewed academic and popular interest in dinosaurs. It was sparked by new discoveries and research indicating that dinosaurs may have been active and warm-blooded animals, rather than cold-blooded and sluggish as had been the prevailing view and description during the first half of the twentieth century.
SolnhofenSolnhofen is a municipality in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the region of Middle Franconia in the Land of Bavaria in Germany. It is in the Altmühl valley. The local area is famous in geology and palaeontology for Solnhofen limestone. This is a very fine-grained limestone from the Jurassic period Lagerstätte that preserves detailed fossil specimens. Alois Senefelder used specially prepared blocks of the fine Solnhofen limestone for the process of lithography which he invented in 1798.
ThumbThe thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb is pollex (compare hallux for big toe), and the corresponding adjective for thumb is pollical. The English word finger has two senses, even in the context of appendages of a single typical human hand: Any of the five terminal members of the hand.
TithonianIn the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Kimmeridgian and followed by the Berriasian (part of the Cretaceous). The Tithonian was introduced in scientific literature by German stratigrapher Albert Oppel in 1865. The name Tithonian is unusual in geological stage names because it is derived from Greek mythology.
RhamphorhynchusRhamphorhynchus (ˌræmfəˈrɪŋkəs, from Ancient Greek rhamphos meaning "beak" and rhynchus meaning "snout") is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus, it had a long tail, stiffened with ligaments, which ended in a characteristic soft-tissue tail vane. The mouth of Rhamphorhynchus housed needle-like teeth, which were angled forward, with a curved, sharp, beak-like tip lacking teeth, indicating a diet mainly of fish; indeed, fish and cephalopod remains are frequently found in Rhamphorhynchus abdominal contents, as well as in their coprolites.
